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The  Boy  Tkavelleks  i:n^  the  Far  East 


ADVENTURES   OF 


TWO  YOUTHS  IN  A  JOURNEY 

TO 

JAPAN   AND    CHINA 


BY 

AUTHOR  OF   "CAMP-FIRK   AND   COTTON  -  FIELD "   "OVERLAND  THROUGH   ASIA' 
"UNDERGROUND"    "JOHN"   ETC. 


iJllu0trateb 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    &     BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS 

FRANKLIN    SQUARE 

1880 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congresss.  in  the  year  1 879,  by 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


3)5 


PREFACE. 


To  my  Young  Friends : 

Not  many  years  ago;  China  and  Japan  were  regarded  as  among  the 
barbarous  nations.  The  rest  of  the  world  knew  comparatively  little  about 
their  peoples,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  inhabitants  of  those  countries  had 
only  a  slight  knowledge  of  Europe  and  America.  To-day  the  sit-uation  is 
greatly  changed :  China  and  Japan  are  holding  intimate  relations  with  us 
and  with  Europe,  and  there  is  every  prospect  that  the  acquaintance  be- 
tween the  East  and  the  West  will  increase  as  the  years  roll  on.  There  is 
a  general  desire  for  information  concerning  the  people  of  the  Far  East, 
and  it  is  especially  strong  among  the  youths  of  America. 

The  characters  in  "  The  Boy  Travellers  "  are  fictitious ;  but  the  scenes 
that  passed  before  their  eyes,  the  people  they  met,  and  the  incidents  and 
accidents  that  befell  them  are  real.  The  routes  they  travelled,  the  cities 
they  visited,  the  excursions  they  made,  the  observations  they  recorded — in 
fact,  nearly  all  that  goes  to  make  up  this  volume — were  the  actual  experi- 
ences of  the  author  at  a  very  recent  date.  In  a  few  instances  I  have  used 
information  obtained  from  others,  but  only  after  careful  investigation  has 
convinced  me  of  its  entire  correctness.  I  have  aimed  to  give  a  faithful 
picture  of  Japan  and  China  as  they  appear  to-day,  and  to  make  such  com- 
parisons with  the  past  that  the  reader  can  easily  comprehend  the  changes 
that  have  occurred  in  the  last  twenty  years.  And  I  have  also  endeavored 
to  convey  the  information  in  such  a  way  that  the  story  shall  not  be  con- 
sidered tedious.  Miss  Effie  and  "  The  Mystery  "  may  seem  superfluous  to 
some  readers,  but  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  majority  of  those  who  peruse 
the  book  will  not  consider  them  unnecessary  to  the  narrative. 

In  preparing  illustrations  for  this  volume  the  publishers  have  kindly 
allowed  me  to  make  use  of  some  engravings  that  have  already  appeared  in 


1495115 


10  PUEFACK. 

their  publications  relative  to  China  and  Japan.  I  have  made  selectionh 
from  the  volumes  of  Sir  Rutherford  Alcoek  and  the  Rev.  Justus  Doo- 
little,  and  also  from  the  excellent  work  of  Professor  Griffis,  "  The  Mika- 
do's Empire."  In  the  episode  of  a  whaling  voyage  I  have  been  under  ob- 
ligations to  the  graphic  narrative  of  Mr.  Davis  entitled  "Nitnrod  of  the 
Sea,"  not  only  for  illustrations,  but  for  incidents  of  the  chase  of  the  mon- 
sters of  the  deep. 

The  author  is  not  aware  that  any  book  describing  China  and  Japan, 
and  specially  addressed  to  the  young,  has  yet  appeared.  Consequently  he 
is  led  to  hope  that  his  work  will  find  a  welcome  among  the  boys  and  girls 
of  America.  And  when  the  juvenile  members  of  the  family  have  com- 
pleted its  perusal,  the  children  of  a  larger  growth  may  possibly  find  the 
volume  not  without  interest,  and  may  glean  from  its  pages  some  grains  of 
information  hitherto  unknown  to  them. 

T.  W.  K. 

Nem-  York,  October,  1879. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  PAGK 

The  Departure 17 

CHAPTER   II. 
Overland  to  California 30 

CHAPTER  III. 
On  the  Pacific  Ocean 48 

CHAPTER   IV. 
Incidents  of  a  Whaling  Voyage 58 

CHAPTER  V. 
Arrival  in  Japan 72 

CHAPTER  VI. 
First  Day  in  Japan 83 

CHAPTER  VII. 
From  Yokohama  to  Tokio lOI 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Sights  in  the  Eastern  Capital  of  Japan ■ 115 

CHAPTER  IX. 

ASAKUSA    AND    YUYENO. FiRST    NATIONAL   FaIR    AT    TOKIO 131 

CHAPTER  X. 
Walks  and  Talks  in  Tokio .' 144 

CHAPTER  XI. 
An  Excursion  to  Dai-Boots  and  Enoshima 156 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Sights  at  Enoshima 169 

CHAPTER  XIIL 
On  the  Road  to  Fusiyama 183 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Ascent  of  Fpsiyama 197 


12  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XV.  PAO. 

Executions  and  Habi-Kari 215 

CIIAPTEU  XVI. 
Amusements. — Wkestlkrs  and  Tueatuical  Entektainments 227 

CHAPTER  XVII.      . 
A  Study  of  Japanese  Art 239 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Something  about  Japanese  Women 254 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Fkom  Yokohama  to  Kobe  and  Osaka 266 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Mint  at  Osaka.  — Euom  Osaka  to  Nara  and  Kioto 279 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Kioto  and  Lake  Biwa 291 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Inland  Sea  and  Nagasaki. — Caught  in  a  Typhoon 303 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
First  Day  in  China 318 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
A  VoTAOB  UP  THE  Yang-tse-kiano 328 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
The  Tae-pisg  Rebellion. — Scenes  on  the  Great  River.... 839 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Fbom  Shanghai  to  Pekin 352 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
Sights  in  Pekin 365 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
A  Journey  to  the  Great  Wall  of  China 377 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
From  Shanghai  to  Hong-kong. — A  Story  of  the  Coolie  Trade 388 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

HONO-KONO   AND  CaNTON 400 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Sights  and  Scenes  in  Canton 408 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


A  Japanese  Swimming-scene.     Reproduced  from 

PAGE  I 

Mr.  Bassett  has  Decided 17' 

Mary 18 

Mai7  Thinking  what  she  would  Like  from 

Japan 19 

Overland  by  Stage  in  the  (Jlden  Time 20 

Overland  by  Rail  in  a  Pullman  Car 21 

Cooking-range  in  the  Olden  Time 24 

Cooking- range  on  a  Pullman  Car 24 

Change  for  a  Dollar — Before  and  After 25 

Kathleen's  Expectations  for  Frank  and  Fred.  26 

Effie  Waiting  for  Somebody 28 

Good-bye 29 

Watering-place  on  the  Erie  Railway 30 

The  Course  of  Empire 31 

Valley  of  the  Neversink 32 

Starucca  Viaduct 33 

Niagara  Falls,  from  the  American  Side 34 

Entrance  to  the  Cave  of  the  Winds 36 

From  Chicago  to  San  Francisco 38 

Omaha 39 

Attacked  by  Indians , 41 

Herd  of  Buffaloes  Moving 42 

An  Old  Settler 43 

"EndofTrack" 44 

Snow-sheds  on  the  Pacific  Railway 45 

View  at  Cape  Horn,  Central  Pacific  Railway  46 

Seal-rocks,  San  Francisco 47 

Departure  from  San  Francisco 48 

Dropping  the  Pilot 49 

The  Golden  Gate 50 

In  the  Fire-room. 51 

The  Engineer  at  his  Post 53 

The  Wind  Rising 55 

Spouts 57 

Whale-ship  Outward  Bound 57 

Captain  Spofford  Telling  his  Story 58 

New  Bedford 59 


a  Painting  by  a  Japanese  Artist.. . .  Frontispiece. 

PAGB 

Sperm-whale 60 

"There  she  hinu si' 61 

Implements  Used  in  Whaling ....  62 

Whale  "  Breaching" 63 

In  the  Whale's  Jaw 64 

Captain  Huntings  Fight 66 

A  Game  Fellow 67 

A  Free  Ride 68 

Captain  Sammis  Selling  Out 70 

Shooting  at  a  Water-spout 71 

Frank  Studying  Navigation 73 

Working  up  a  Reckoning 75 

View  in  the  Bay  of  Yeddo 7(> 

Japanese  Junk  and  Boats   77 

A  Japanese  Imperial  Barge 78 

Japanese  Government  Boat 79 

Yokohama  in  18.54 81 

A  Japanese  Street  Scene 84 

Japanese  Musicians 86 

Japanese  Fishermen 87 

"  Sayonara" .  88 

Japanese  Silk-shop 89 

Seven-stroke  Horse 90 

Female  Head-dress 91 

The  Siesta 91 

A  Japanese  at  his  Toilet  for  a  Visit  of  Cere- 
mony   92 

A  Japanese  Breakfast 95 

Mutsuhito,  Mikado  of  Japan 97 

Landing  of  Perry's  Expedition    98 

The  Last  Shogoon  of  Japan 99 

Third-class  Passengers 102 

Japanese  Ploughing 103 

Japanese  Roller 104 

Manuring  Process 104 

How  they  Use  Manure 105 

Mode  of  Protecting  Land  from  Birds 106 


14 


ILLUSTRATION& 


PAGE 

Storks,  Drawn  by  a  Native  Artist lOG 

Flock  of  Geese 107 

Forts  of  ^>liiiiaga\va 108 

A  Jiii-iiki  sha 109 

Japanese  on  Foot Ill 

An  Express  Kunner 112 

A  Japanese  Coolie 113 

Pity  for  the  Blind 114 

View  of  Tokio,  from  the  South 115 

Japanese  Lady  Coming  from  the  Bath 116 

Fire-lookouts  in  Tokio 117 

Too  Much  Sa-kee 118 

Sakuradu  Avenue  in  Tokio 119 

Japanese  Children  at  Play 121 

The  Feast  of  Dolls  ("Hina  Matsuri")  in  a 

Japanese  House 122 

A  Barber  at  Work 123 

A  Transaction  in  Clothes 1 24 

Ball-playing  in  Japan 1 25 

Sport  at  Asakusa 126 

Spire  of  a  Pagoda 127 

Belfry  in  Court-yard  of  Temple,  showing  the  ' 

Style  of  a  Jupanese  Roof 1 28 

Shrine  of  the  Goddess  Ku-wanon 1 30 

Praying-machine 132 

Archery  Attendant 1 34 

A  Japanese  Flower-show.     Night  Scene  .   .  135 

A  Christening  in  Japan 137 

A  Wedding  Party 138 

Strolling  Singers  at  Asakusa 139 

View  from  Suruga  Dai  in  Tokio 140 

A  Child's  Nurse 140 

Lovei-s  Behind  a  Screen.     A  Painting  on 

Silk  Exhibited  at  the  Tokio  Fair 141 

Blacksmith's  Bellows 142 

A  Grass  Overcoat 1 43  j 

A  High-priest  in  Full  Costume 145 

A  Japanese  Temple 14C  ; 

A  Wayside  Shrine 148 

The  Great  Kosatsu,  near  the  Nihon  Bashi. .  150 

Blowing  Bubbles 151  j 

Father  iind  Children 1.53 

Caught  in  tiie  Kain 155 

A  Village  on  the  Tokaido 157 

A  Party  on  the  Tokaido 159 

Beginning  of  Relations  between  England  and 

Japan 161 

Pilgrims  on  the  Road 162  ! 


PAOK 

Threshing  Grain 1 63 

Peasant  and  his  Wife  Returning  from  the 

Field 164 

A  Japanese  Sandal 165 

The  Great  Dai-Boots 166 

Salutation  of  tlie  Landlord 168 

The  Head  Waiter  Receiving  Ordei-s 168 

A  Japanese  Kitchen 170 

Boiling  the  Pot.   171 

Frank's  Inventory 1 72 

How  the  Japanese  Sleep 173 

A  Japanese  Fishing  Scene 1 75 

"Breakfast  is  ready" 176 

Inteiior  of  a  Tea-garden 178 

The  Path  in  Knoshiraa 179 

A  Group  of  Japanese  Ladies  . .    181 

Specimen  of  Grotesque  Drawing  by  a  Jaj)- 

anese  Artist 182 

Bettos,  or  "  Grooms,"  in  Full  Dress 185 

A  Japanese  Loom 188 

Artists  at  Work 189 

Coopers  Hooping  a  Vat 190 

Crossing  the  River 192 

Mother  and  Son 193 

A  Fisliing  Party 1 94 

The  Man  they  Met 196 

Travelling  by  Cango 1 98 

Japanese  Norimon 1 99 

Frank's  Position 200 

Hot  Bath  in  the  Mountains 201 

A  Japanese  Bath 202 

The  Lake  of  Hakone 203 

Antics  of  the  Horses . .  206 

A  Near  View  of  Fusiyama 207 

In  a  Storm  near  Fusiyama 208 

Ascent  of  Fusiyama 211 

The  Four  Classes  of  Society 216 

Two-sworded  Nobles 218 

A  Samurai  in  Winter  Dress 219 

Beheading  a  Criminal 221 

Japanese  Court  in  the  Old  Style 224 

Japanese  Naval  Officer 225 

Japanese  Steam  Corvette —  225 

A  Japanese  War-junk  of  the  Olden  Time. .  226 

A  Japanese  Wrestler 228 

A  Pair  of  Wrestlers  and  their  Manager —  230 

The  Clinch 231 

Japanese  Actor  Dressed  as  a  Doctor 233 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


15 


PAGE 

TheSamisen 234 

Playing  the  Samisen 235 

Scene  from  a  Japanese  Comedy. — Writing 

a  Letter  of  Divorce 236 

Scene  from  a  Japanese  Comedy. — Love-let- 
ter Discovered 237 

Telling  the  Story  of  Bumbukii  Chagama. . .  238 

Frank's  Purchase 240 

Japanese  Pattern-designer 241 

Fan-makers  at  Work 241 

Chinese  Cloisonne  on  Metal 242 

Japanese  Cloisonne  on  Metal 243 

Japanese  Bowl 243 

Cover  of  Japanese  Bowl 244 

Chinese  Metal  Vase 246 

Modern  Japanese  Cloisonne  on  Metal. 247 

Japanese  Metal  Cloisonne 248 

Chinese  Porcelain  Cloisonne 248 

Group  Carved  in  Ivory 249 

Japanese  Pipe,  Case,  and  Pouch 249 

Japanese  Artist  Chasing  on  Copper 251 

A  Japanese  Village. — Bamboo  Poles  Ready 

for  Market 252 

A  Japanese  Lady's-maid 254 

Bride  and  Bridesmaid 255 

Merchant's  Family 255 

Mysteries  of  the  Dressing-room 256 

Lady  in  Winter  Walking-dress 257 

A  Girl  who  had  never  Seen  a  Dressing- 
pin 259 

Ladies'  Hair-dresser 260 

Ladies  at  their  Toilet 261 

Japanese  Ladies  on  a  Picnic 262 

Ladies  and  Children  at  Play 263 

Flying  Kites 264 

A  Village  in  the  Tea  District 266 

Tea-merchants  in  the  Interior 267 

The  Tea-plant 268 

Firing  Tea 269 

Hiogo  (Kobe) 270 

The  Junk  at  Anchor 271 

The  Helmsman  at  his  Post 272 

Japanese  Sailors  at  Dinner 273 

Junk  Sailors  on  Duty 274 

View  from  tlie  Hotel 276 

The  Castle  of  Osaka 277 

Vignette  from  the  National  Bank-notes 280 

Imperial  Crest  for  Palace  Affairs 281 


PAGE 

Imperial  Crest  on  the  New  Coins ...  281 

Old  Kinsat,  or  Money-card 282 

Ichi-boo 282 

Vignette  from  Bank-note 283 

Vignette  from  Bank-note 283 

Men  Towing  Boats  near  Osaka 284 

Mode  of  Holding  the  Tow-ropes 284 

The  Ferry-boat 285 

The  Hotel-maid 285 

A  Japanese  Landscape 286 

Dikes  along  the  River 287 

Night  Scene  near  Fushinii 288 

Women  of  Kioto 289 

Ladies  of  the  Western  Capital 292 

Restaurant  and  Tea-garden  at  Kioto 294 

An  Artist  at  Work 295 

Lantern-maker  at  Kioto 295 

A  Japanese  Archer 297 

Temple  Bell  at  Kioto 298 

Reeling  Cotton 298 

Japanese  Temple  and  Cemetery 299 

Handcart  for  a  Quartette 300 

Horse  Carrying  Liquid  Manure 301 

The  Paternal  Nurse 301 

Picnic  Booth  Overlooking  Lake  Biwa 302 

A  Maker  of  Bows 302 

The  Inland  Sea  near  Hiogo    303 

Approaching  Simoneseki 304 

Dangerous  Place  on  the  Suwo  Nada 304 

Pappenberg  Island 305 

Women  of  Nagasaki 306 

A  Christian  Village  in  the  Sixteenth  Cen- 
tury   307 

Monuments  in  Memory  of  Martyrs 308 

A  Path  near  Nagasaki 309 

Hollander  at  Deshima  Watching  for  a  Ship  310 

The  Rain  Dragon 311 

The  Wind  Dragon 31 2 

The  Thunder  Dragon 312 

A  Typhoon 314 

Course  of  a  Typhoon 316 

Caught  near  the  Storm's  Centre 317 

The  Woosung  River 318 

Chinese  Trading-junk  on  the  Woosung  River  319 

Shanghai 321 

A  Coolie  in  the  Streets  of  Shanghai 322 

A  Tea-house  in  the  Country 324 

Smoking  Opium 324 


16 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAOB 

Opinm-pipe 325 

Man  Blinded  by  the  Use  of  Opiam 326 

Chinese  Gentleman  in  a  Sedan 327 

Canal  Scene  South  of  Shanghai 328 

A  Chinese  Family  Party 330 

A  Gentleman  of  Chin-kiang 331 

Chinese  Spectacles 332 

Ploughing  with  a  Buffalo 333 

Threshing  Grain  near  Chin-kiang 333 

Carrying  Bundles  of  Grain 334 

A  River  Scene  in  China 335 

A  Nine-storied  Pagoda 337 

Little  Orphan  Rock 337 

Entrance  to  Po-yang  Lake 338 

Tae-ping  Rebels 340 

General  Ward 342 

The  Gate  which  Ward  Attacked 343 

General  Burgevine 344 

Fishing  with  Cormorants 347 

A  Street  in  Han-kow 349 

Wo-chang 350 

The  Governor-general  and  his  Staff 351 

Attack  on  the  Pei-ho  Forts 353 

Temple  of  the  Sea- god  at  Taku 355 

A  Chinese  Beggar 355 

Signing  the  Treaty  of  Tien-tsin 356 

Mode  of  Irrigating  Fields  . . . . ; 359 

The  Doctor's  Bedroom 860 

Part  of  the  Wall  of  Pekin 361 

A  Pekin  Cab 362 

A  Composite  Team 363 

A  Chinese  Dragon 364 

A  Pavilion  in  the  Prohibited  City 366 

Temple  of  Heaven 367 

Pekin  Cash 867 

Traditional  Likeness  of  Confucius 868 

God  of  W^ar 368 

God  of  Literatnre 868 

God  of  Thieves 368 

A  Mandarin  Judge  Delivering  Sentence 369 

Squeezing  the  Fingers 371 

Squeezing  the  Ankles 871 

A  Bed  of  Torture 372 

Four  Modes  of  Punishment 373 

Standing  in  a  C^age 374 


PAOB 

Hot-water  Snake 374 

CaiTying  Forth  to  the  Place  of  Execution. .  375 

Just  Before  Decapitation 876 

Military  Candidates  Competing  with  the  Bow 

and  Arrow 376 

Walking  on  Stilts 378 

Juggler  Spinning  a  Plate 379 

Gambling  with  a  Revolving  Pointer 879 

Fortune-telling  by  Means  of  a  Bird  and  Slips 

of  Paper 380 

Fortune-telling  by  Dissecting  Chinese  Char- 
acters    381 

Chinese  Razor 382 

Barber  Shaving  the  Head  of  a  Customer. . .  382 

Bridge  of  the  Cloudy  Hills 383 

The  God  of  the  Kitchen 384 

A  Lama 385 

The  Hills  near  Chan-kia-kow 386 

Specimen  of  Chinese  Writing 389 

Four  Illustrations  of  the  Chinese  Vereion  of 

"  Excelsior" 393 

Barracoons  at  Macao 394 

Coolies  Embarking  at  Macao 395 

Enraged  Coolie 396 

A  Deadly  Fall 396 

Firing  Down  the  Hatchway 397 

The  Writing  in  Blood 898 

The  Interpreters 899 

Hong-kong 401 

Fac-simile  of  a  Hong-kong  Mille,  Dime,  and 

Cent 403 

Fort  in  Canton  River 404 

Gateway  of  Temple  near  Canton 406 

Street  Scene  in  Canton 410 

Five-storied  Pagoda 412 

Horseshoe  or  Omega  Grave 413 

Presenting  Food  to  the  Spirits  of  the  Dead.  414 

A  Leper 414 

A  Literary  Student 415 

A  Literary  Graduate  in  his  Robes  of  Honor  415 

A  Sedan-chair  with  Four  Bearers 416 

A  Small  Foot  with  a  Shoe  on  it 417 

Peasant-woman  with  Natural  Feet 417 

A  Tablet  Cai-ved  in  Ivory 419 

"  Good-bye ! " 42 1 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS 


CHAPTER  L 

THE    DEPARTURK 

"  TTTELL,  Frank,"  said  Mr.  Bassett,  "  the  question  is  decided." 

'  ^  Frank  looked  up  with  an  expression  of  anxiety  on  his  hand- 
some face.  A  twinkle  in  his  father's  eyes  told  him  that  the  decision 
was  a  favorable  one. 

"  And  you'll  let  me  go  with 
them,  won't  yon,  father  ?"  he  an- 
swered. 

"  Yes,  my  boy,"  said  the  father, 
"yon  can  go." 

Frank  was  so  full  of  joy  that  he 
couldn't  speak  for  at  least  a  couple 
of  minutes.  He  threw  his  arms 
around  Mr.  Bassett ;  then  he  kissed 
his  mother  and  his  sister  Mary, 
who  had  just  come  into  the  room  ; 
next  he  danced  around  the  table  on 
one  foot ;  then  he  hugged  his  dog 
^ero,  who  wondered  what  it  was 
all  about ;  and  he  ended  by  again 
embracing  his  father,  wlio  stood 
smiling  at  the  boy's  delight.  By 
this,  time  Frank  had  recovered  the 
use  of  his  tongue,  and  was  able  to  express  his  gratitude  in  words.  When 
the  excitement  was  ended,  Mary  asked  what  had  happened  to  make 
Frank  fly  around  so. 

"  Why,  he's  going  to  Japan,"  said  Mrs.  Bassett. 

2 


MK.  BASSKTT  HAS   DLCIDED. 


18 


THK    BOY    TUAVELLERS. 


:>^ 


"  Going  to  Japan,  and  leave  us  all  alone  at  home !"  Mary  exclaimed, 
and  then  her  lips  and  eyes  indicated  an  intention  to  cry. 

Frank  was  eighteen  yeai-s  old  and  his  sister  was  fifteen.     They  were 

very  fond  of  each  other,  aud  the 
thought  that  her  brother  was  to  be 
separated  from  her  for  a  while  Mas 
painful  to  the  girl.  Frank  kissed  her 
again,  and  said, 

"  I  sha'n't  be  gone  long,  Mary,  and 

ril  bring  you  such  lots  of  nice  things 

when  I  come  back."     Then   there  was 

V.     another  kiss,  and  Mary  concluded   she 

<^    would  have  her  cry  some  other  time. 

^?  "  But    you    won't    let    him    go    all 


alone,    father,   now,    Avill    you  ?"     she 
asked  as  they  sat  down  to  bi'eakfast. 

"  I  think  I  could  go  alone,"  replied 
Frank,  proudly,  "  and  take  care  of  my- 
but   I'm   going   with  Cousin  Fred  and 


self  without   anybody's   help ; 
Doctor  Bronson." 

"  Better  say  Doctor  Bronson  and  Cousin  Fred,"  Mary  answered,  with 
a  smile;  "the  Doctor  is  Fred's  uncle  and  twenty  years  older." 

Frank  corrected  the  mistake  he  had  made,  and  said  he  was  too  much 
excited  to  remember  all  about  the  rules  of  grammar  and  etiquette.  He 
had  even  forgotten  that  he  was  hungry  ;  at  any  rate,  he  had  lost  his  ap- 
petite, and  hardly  touched  the  juicy  steak  and  steaming  potatoes  that 
were  before  him. 

During  breakfast,  Mr.  Bassett  explained  to  Mary  the  outline  of  the 
proposed  journey.  Doctor  Bronson  was  going  to  Japan  and  China,  and 
was  to  be  accompanied  by  his  nephew,  Fred  Bronson,  who  was  very 
nearly  Frank's  age.  Frank  had  asked  his  father's  permission  to  join 
them,  and  Mr.  Bassett  had  been  considering  the  matter.  lie  found  that 
it  would  be  very  agreeable  to  Doctor  Bronson  and  Fred  to  have  Frank's 
company,  and  as  the  opportunity  was  an  excellent  one  for  the  youth  to 
see  something  of  foreign  lands  under  the  excellent  care  of  thb  Doctor, 
it  did  not  take  a  long  time  for  him  to  reach  a  favorable  decision. 

"  Doctor  Bronson  has  been  there  before,  hasn't  he,  father  ?"  said 
Mary,  when  the  explanation  was  ended. 

"  Certainl}'^,  my  child,"  was  the  reply  ;  "  he  has  been  twice  around  the 
world,  and  has  seen  nearly  q\q\"^  civilized  and  uncivilized  country  in  it. 


GOOD   THINGS   FROM   ABROAD. 


19 


He  speaks  three  or  four  languages  fluently,  and  knows  something  of  half 
a  dozen  others.  Five  years  ago  he  was  in  Japan  and  China,  and  he  is 
acquainted  with  many  people  living  there.  Don't  you  remember  how 
he  told  us  one  evening  about  visiting  a  Japanese  prince,  and  sitting 
cross-legged  on  the  floor  for  half  an  hour,  while  they  ate  a  dinner  of 
boiled  rice  and  stewed  fish,,  and  draidv  hot  W'ine  from  little  cups  the 
size  of  a  thimble  ?" 

Mary  remembered  it  all,  and  then  declared  she  was  glad  Frank  was 
going  to  Japan,  and  also  glad  that  he  was  going  with  Doctor  Bronson. 
And  she  added  that  the  Doctor  would  know  the  best  places  for  buying 
the  presents  Frank  was  to  bring  home. 


MART    THINKING    WHAT    SUE    WOULD    LIKE    FROM    JAPAN. 

"  A  crape  shawl  for  mother,  and  another  for  me  ;  now  don't  you  for- 
get," said  Mary  ;  "  and  some  fans  and  some  ivory  combs,  and  some  of 
those  funny  little  cups  and  saucers  such  as  Aunt  Amelia  has,  and  some 
nice  tea  to  drink  out  of  them." 

"  Anything  else  ?"  Frank  asked. 

"  I  don't  know  just  now,"  Mary  answered  ;  "I'll  read  all  I  can  about 
Japan  and  China  before  you  start,  so's  I  can  know  all  they  make,  and 


20 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


tlien  ril  write  out  a  list.  I  want  something  of  everything,  you  under- 
stand.'' 

"If  that's  the  case,"  Frank  retorted,  "you'd  better  wrap  your  list 
around  a  bushel  of  money.  It'll  take  a  good  deal  to  buy  the  whole  of 
those  two  countries." 

Mary  said  she  would  be  satisfied  with  a  shawl  and  a  fan  and  anything 
else  that  was  pretty.  The  countries  might  stay  where  the}'  were,  and 
there  were  doubtless  a  good  many  things  in  them  that  nobody  would 
want  anyway.  All  she  wished  was  to  have  anything  that  was  nice  and 
pretty. 

For  the  next  few  days  the  proposed  journey  was  the  theme  of  conver- 
sation in  the  Bassett  family.  Mary  examined  all  the  books  she  could  find 
about  the  countries  her  brother  expected  to  visit ;  then  she  made  a  list  of 
the  things  she  desired,  and  the  day  before  his  departure  she  gave  him  a 
sealed  envelope  containing  the  paper.  She  explained  that  he  was  not  to 
open  it  until  he  reached  Japan,  and  that  he  would  find  two  lists  of  what 
she  wanted. 

"  The  things  marked  '  number  one '  yon  must  get  anyway,"  she  said, 
"and  those  marked  'number  two'  you  must  get  if  you  can." 

Frank  thought  she  had  shown  great  self-denial  in  making  two  lists 


OVEUL/.N-D    BY   STAGE    IS    THE    OLDEK    TIME. 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  DEPARTURE. 


21 


instead  of  one,  but  intimated  that  there  was  not  much  distinction  in  the 
conditions  she  proposed.  He  promised  to  see  about  the  matter  when  he 
reached  Japan,  and  so  the  conversation  on  that  topic  came  to  an  end. 

It  did  not  take  a  long  time  to  prepare  Frank's  wardrobe  for  the  jour- 
ney. His  grandmother  had  an  impression  that  he  was  going  on  a  whal- 
ing voyage,  as  her  brother  had  gone  on  one  more  than  sixty  yeai-s  before. 
She  proposed  to  give  him  two  heavy  jackets,  a  dozen  pairs  of  woollen 
stockings,  and  a  tarpaulin  hat,  and  was  sure  he  would  need  them.     She 


OVEKLAXD    BY    KAIL    IN    A    I'ULLMAX    CAR. 


22  THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

was  undeceived  wlicn  the  difference  between  a  sea  voyage  of  to-day  and 
one  of  half  a  century  ago  was  explained  to  her.  The  housemaid  said  he 
would  not  need  any  thick  clothing  if  he  was  going  to  Japan,  as  it  was 
close  to  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  very  hot  there.  She  thought  Japan  was  a 
seaport  of  Palestine,  but  Mary  made  it  clear  to  her  that  Japan  and  Jaffa 
were  not  one  and  the  same  place.  When  satisfied  on  this  point,  she  ex- 
pressed, the  hope  that  the  white  bears  and  elephants  wouldn't  eat  the  poor 
boy  up,  and  that  the  natives  wouldn't  roast  iiim,  as  they  did  a  missionary 
from  lier  town  when  she  was  a  little  girl.  "  And,  sure,"  she  added,  "  he 
won't  want  any  clothes  at  all,  at  all,  there,  as  the  horrid  natives  don't  wear 
nothing  except  a  little  cocoannt  ile  which  they  rubs  on  their  skins." 

*'  What  puts  that  into  your  head,  Kathleen  V  said  Mary,  with  a  laugh. 

"  Ajid  didn't  ye  jest  tell  me,"  Kathleen  replied,  "  that  Japan  is  an  isl- 
and in  the  Pacific  Oshin  ?  Sure  it  was  an  island  in  that  same  oshin  where 
Fatlier  Mullaly  was  roasted  alive,  and  the  wretched  natives  drissed  their- 
selves  wid  cocoanut  ile.     It  was  in  a  place  they  called  Feejee." 

Mary  kin<lly  explained  that  the  Pacific  Ocean  was  very  large,  and  con- 
tained a  great  many  islands,  and  that  the  spot  where  Father  Mullaly  was 
cooked  was  some  thousands  of  miles  from  Japan. 

At  breakfast  the  day  before  the  tiniie  fixed  for  Frank's  departure.  Mi-. 
Bassett  told  his  son  that  he  must  make  the  most  of  his  journey,  enjoy  it 
as  much  as  possible,  and  bring  back  a  store  of  useful  knowledge.  "  To 
accomplish  this,"  he  added,  "  several  things  will  be  necessary;  let  us  see 
what  they  are." 

"  Careful  observation  is  one  requisite,"  said  Fi-ank,  "  and  a  good  mem- 
ory is  another." 

^'  Constant  remembrance  of  home,"  Mrs.  Bassett  suggested,  and  Mary 
nodded  in  assent  to  her  mother's  proposition. 

"  Courage  and  perseverance,"  Frank  added. 

"  A  list  of  the  things  you  are  going  to  buy,"  Mary  remarked. 

"A  light  trunk  and  a  cheerful  disposition,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  who 
Lad  entered  the  room  just  as  this  turn  of  the  conversation  set  in. 

"  One  thing  more,"  Mi".  Bassett  added. 

"  I  can't  think  of  it,"  replied  Frank  ;  "  what  is  it  ?" 

"  Money." 

*' Oh  yes,  of^ourse ;  one  couldn't  very  well  go  travelling  without 
money.  I'm  olHpiough  to  know  that,  and  to  know  it  is  very  bad  to  be 
away  from  one's  inends  without  money." 

The  Doctor  said  it  reminded  him  of  a  man  who  asked  another  for  ten 
cents  to  pay  his  ferriage  across  the  Mississippi  River,  and  explained  that 


A   LEITEK   OF   CREDIT.  23 

he  hadn't  a  single  penny.  The  other  man  answered,  "  It's  no  use  throw- 
ing ten  cents  away  on  you  in  that  fashion.  If  3'ou  haven't  any  money, 
you  are  just  as  well  off  on  this  side  of  the  river  as  on  the  other." 

"  Yoii  will  need  money,"  said  Mr.  Bassett,  "  and  here  is  something 
that  will  get  it." 

lie  handed  Frank  a  double  sheet  of  paper  with  some  printed  and 
written  matter  on  the  first  page,  and  some  printed  lists  on  the  third  and 
fourth  pages.  The  second  page  was  blank ;  the  first  page  read  as 
follows  : 

LETTER  OF  CREDIT. 

New  York,  June  ISth,  1878. 
To  OuK  Correspondents: 

We  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  Mr.  Frank  Bassett,  tlie  bearer  of  this  letter, 
whose  signature  jou  will  find  in  the  margin.  We  beg  j'ou  to  honor  his  drafts  to  the  amount 
of  two  liundred  pounds  sterling,  upon  our  London  house,  all  deductions  and  commissions  be- 
ing at  his  expense. 

We  liave  tlie  honor  to  remain.  Gentlemen, 

Very  truly  yourp, 

Blank  &  Co. 

The  printed  matter  on  the  third  and  fourth  pages  was  a  list  of  bank- 
ing-houses in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  w'orld.  Frank  observed  that 
every  country  was  included,  and  there  was  not  a  city  of  any  prom- 
inence that  was  not  named  in  the  list,  and  on  the  same  line  with  the 
list  was  the  name  of  a  banking-house. 

The  paper  was  passed  around  the  table  and  examined,  aiid  finally' 
returned  to  Frank's  hand.  Mr.  Bassett  then  explained  to  his  son  the 
uses  of  the  document. 

"  I  obtained  that  paper,"  said  he,  "  from  the  great  house  of  Blank  & 
Company.  I  paid  a  thousand  dollars  for  it,  but  it  is  made  in  pounds  ster- 
ling because  the  drafts  are  to  be  drawn  on  London,  and  you  know  that 
pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  are  the  currency  of  England." 

"  When  you  want  money,  you  go  to  any  house  named  on  that  list, 
no  matter  what  part  of  the  world  it  may  be,  and  tell  them  how  much 
you  want.  They  make  out  a  draft  which  you  sign,  and  then  they  pay 
you  the  money,  and  write  on  the  second  page  the  amount  you  have 
drawn.  You  get  ten  pounds  in  one  place,  ten. in  another,  twenty  in 
another,  and  you  continue  to  draw  whenever  you  wish.  Each  banker 
puts  dow^n  the  amount  you  have  received  from  him  ^^the  second  page, 
and  you  can  keep  on  drawing  till  the  sum  total  of^our  drafts  equals 
the  figures  named  on  the  first  page.  Then  your  credit  is  said  to  be  ex- 
hausted, and  you  can  draw  no  more  on  that  letter." 


21 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


"IIow  very  convenient   that  is!"  said   Frank;  "you  don't  have  to 
carry  money  around  with  you,  but  get  it  M-hen  and  where  you  want  it." 

"  You  must  be  very  careful  not 
to  lose  tliat  letter,"  said  Mr.  Bassett. 
"  Would  the  money  be  lost  al- 
together ?"  Fi-ank  asked  in  return. 


CUUKING-KANGE   IN   THE   OLDEN   TIME. 


COOKlIiCi-atANOE    ON    A    I'LLLMAN    CAK. 


"  No,  the  money  would  not  be  lost,  but  your  credit  would  be  gone, 
and  of  no  use.  A  new  letter  would  be  issued  in  place  of  the  missing 
one,  but  only  after  some  months,  and  when  the  bankers  had  satisfied 
themselves  that  there  was  no  danger  of  the  old  one  ever  being  used 
again." 

"Can  I  get  any  kind  of  money  with  this  letter,  father?"  Frank  in- 
quired, "or  must  I  take  it  in  pounds  sterling?  That  would  be  very  in- 
convenient somefcicies,  as  I  would  have  to  go  around  and  sell  my  pounds 
and  buy  the  nioiyey  uf  the  country." 

"  They  always  give  you,"  was  the  reply,  "  the  money  that  circulates 
in  the  country  where  you  are.     Here  they  would  give  you  dollars  ;  in 


INCONVENIENT   CURRENCV. 


25 


Japan  you  will  get  Japanese  money  or  Mexican  dollars,  wliic-li  are  cur- 
rent there ;  in  India  they  would  give  you  rupees ;  in  Kussia,  rubles ; 
in  Italy,  lire  ;  in  France,  francs ;  in  Spain,  pesetas,  and  so  on.  They 
give  you  the  equivalent  of  the  amount  you  draw  on  your  letter." 

This  reminded  the  Doctor  of  a  story,  and  at  the  general  request  he 
told  it. 

A  traveller  stopped  one  night  at  a  tavern  in  the  interior  of  Minne- 
sota. On  paying  his  bill  in  the  morning,  he  received  a  beaver  skin  in- 
stead of  a  dollar  in  change  that  was  due  him.  The  landlord  explained 
that  beaver  skins  were  legal  tender  in  that  region  at  a  dollar  each. 

He  hid  the  skin  under  his  coat,  walked  over  the  street  to  a  grocery 
store,  and  asked  the  grocer  if  it  was  true  that  beaver  skins  were  legal 
tender  for  one  dollar  each. 


CHANGE  FOK  A  DOLLAR — BEFORE  AND  AFTER. 


"  Certainly,"  answered  the  grocer,  "  everybody  takes  them  at  that 
rate." 

"  Then  be  kind  enough  to  change  me  a  dollar  bill,"  said  the  stranger, 
drawing  the  beaver  skin  from  under  his  coat  and  laying  it  on  the 
counter. 

The  grocer  answered  that  he  was  only  too  happy  to  oblige  a  stranger, 
and  passed  out  four  musk-rat  skins,  which  were  legal  tender,  as  he  said, 
at  twenty-five  cents  each. 

"  Please,  Doctor,"  said  Mary,  "  what  do  you  mean  by  legal  tender  ?" 

The  Doctor  explained  that  legal  tender  was  the  money  which  the 
law  declares  should  be  the  proper  tender,  or  offer,  in  paying  a  debt.     "  If 


26 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLKKS. 


I  owed  your  father  a  liundred  dollars,"  said  he,  "  I  could  not  compel  him 
to  accept  the  whole  amount  in  ten-cent  pieces,  or  twentj-five-cent  pieces, 
or  even  in  half-dollars.  AVhen  the  government  issues  a  coin,  it  places  a 
limit  for  which  that  coin  can  be  a  legal  tender.  Thus  the  ten-cent  piece 
is  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts  of  one  dollar  or  less,  and  the  half-dollar  for 
debts  of  five  dollars  or  less." 

Mary  said  that  when  she  was  a  child,  ten  cherries  were  exchanged 
among  her  schoolmates  for  one  apple,  two  apples  for  one  pear,  and  two 
pears  for  one  orange.  One  day  she  took  some  oranges  to  school  intend- 
ing to  exchange  them  for  cherries,  of  which  she  was  very  fond  ;  she  left 
them  in  Katie  Smith's  desk,  but  Katie  was  hungry  and  ate  one  of  the 
oranges  at  recess. 

"  Not  the  fii"st  time  the  director  of  a  bank  has  appropriated  part  of 
the  funds,"  said  the  Doctor.  "  Didn't  you  lind  that  an  orange  would  buy 
more  cherries  or  apples  at  one  time  than  at  another  ?" 

"  Why,  certainly,"  Mary  answered,  "  and  sometimes  they  wouldn't 
buy  any  cherries  at  all." 

"  Bankers  and  merchants  call  that  the  fluctuation  of  exchanges,"  said 


KATIILKEN  8    KXPECTATIUN'8    FOR    FRANK    AND    FRED. 


STARTING   FROM   HOME.  27 

Mr.  Bassett ;  and  witli  this  remark  he  rose  from  tlie  table,  and  tlie  party 
broke  up. 

The  next  morning  a  can-iage  containing  Doctor  Bronson  and  his 
nephew,  Fred,  drove  up  in  front  of  Mr.  Bassett's  house.  There  were 
farewell  kisses,  and  hopes  for  a  prosperous  journey;  and  in  a  few  minutes 
the  three  travellers  were  on  their  way  to  the  railway  station.  There  was 
a  waving;  of  handkerchiefs  as  the  carriag-e  started  from  the  house  and 
rolled  away ;  Nero  barked  and  looked  wistfully  after  his  young  master, 
and  the  warm-hearted  Kathleen  wiped  her  eyes  with  the  corner  of  her 
apron,  and  flung  an  old  shoe  after  the  departing  vehicle. 

"  And  sure,"  she  said,  "  and  I  hope  that  wretched  old  Feejee  won't 
be  in  Japan  at  all,  at  all,  and  the  horrid  haythens  won't  roast  him." 

As  they  approached  the  station,  Frank  appeared  a  little  nervous  about 
something.  The  cause  of  his  anxiety  was  apparent  when  the  carriage 
stopped.  He  was  the  first  to  get  out  and  the  first  to  mount  the  platform. 
Sotnebody  was  evidently  waiting  for  him. 

Doctor  Bronson  followed  him  a  minute  later,  and  heard  something 
like  the  following: 

"  There,  now,  don't  cry.  Be  a  good  girl,  and  I'll  bring  you  the  nicest 
little  pigtail,  of  the  most  Celestial  pattern,  from  China." 

"  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Frank  Bassett,  Fm  not  crying.  It's  the  dust  in  the 
road  got  into  my  eyes." 

"But  you  are  ;  there's  another  big  tear.  I  know  you're  sorry,  and  so 
am  I.     But  I'm  coming  back." 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you  when  you  come  back  ;  of  course  I  shall, 
for  your  sister's  sake.  And  you'll  be  writing  to  Mary,  and  she'll  tell  me 
where  you  are.     And  when  she's  writing  to  you  she'll — " 

The  bright  little  face  turned  suddenly,  and  its  owner  saw  the  Doctor 
standing  near  with  an  amused  expression  on  his  features,  and,  perhaps,  a 
little  moisture  in  his  eyes.  She  uttered  a  cheery  "  Good-morning,"  to 
which  the  Doctor  returned, 

"  Good-morning,  Miss  Effie.     This  is  an  unexpected  pleasure." 

"  You  see.  Doctor"  (she  blushed  and  stammered  a  little  as  she  spoke), 
"you  know  I  like  to  take  a  walk  in  the  morning,  and  happened  to  come 
down  to  the  station." 

"  Of  course,  quite  accidental,"  said  the  Doctor,  with  a  merry  twinkle 
in  his  eyes. 

"  Yes,  that  is,  I  knew  Frank — I  mean  Mr.  Bassett — that  is,  I  knew  you 
were  all  three  going  away,  and  I  thought  I  might  come  down  and  see 
you  start." 


28 


TIIK   BOY   TKAVELLEUS. 


"  Quite  proper,  Miss  Effie,"  was  the  reply  ;  "  sb  good-bye  :  I  must  look 

ir  tlie  tickets  and  the  baggage." 

"  Good-bye,  Doctor  Brouson ;  good-bye,  Mr.  Fred.     JJon  voya<je  /" 


KFFIE    WAITING    FOR    80MLU0L.Y. 


GOOD-BYE,  SWEETHEART ! 


29 


Frank  lingered  beliind,  and  the  rest  of  the  dialogue  has  not  been  re- 
corded. 

"  She's  a  nice  girl,"  said  Fred  to  the  Doctor  as  they  made  their  way 
to  the  ticket -office.  "And  she's  very  fond  of  Mary  Bassett,  Frank's 
sister.  Spiteful  people  say,  thongh,  that 
she's  oftener  in  Frank's  company  than  in 
Mary's ;  and  I  know  Frank  is  ready  to 
punch  the  head  of  any  other  boy  that  dares 
to  look  at  her." 

"  Quite  so,"  answered  Dr.  Brorison  ;  "  I 
don't  think  Frank  is  likely  to  be  forgetful 
of  home." 

Soon  the  whistle  sounded,  the  great 
train  rolled  into  the  station,  the  conductor 
shouted  "All  aboard!"  our  friends  took 
their  seats,  the  bell  rang,  and  the  loco- 
motive coughed  asthmatically  as  it  moved 
on. 

Frank  looked  back  as  long  as  the  station 
was  in  sight.  Somebody  continued  to  wave 
a  delicate  handkerchief  until  the  train  had 
disappeared ;  somebody's  eyes  were  full  of 

tears,  and  so  were  the  eyes  of  somebody  else.  Somebody's  good  wishes 
followed  the  travellers,  and  the  travellers — Frank  especially — wafted  back 
good  wishes  for  that  somebody. 


GOOD-BYE. 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER    II. 
OVERLAND  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

OT'R  three  travellers  were  seated  in  a  Pullman  car  on  the  Erie  Rail- 
way.    Frank  remarked  that  they  were  like  the  star  of  empire,  as 
they  were  taking  their  wa}'^  westward. 

Fred  replied  that  he  thought  the  star  of  empire  had  a  much  harder 
time  of  it,  as  it  had  no  cushioned  seat  to  rest  n])on,  and  no  jjlate-glass 
window  to  look  from. 


WATKRINO-PLACE    ON    THK    ERIE    KAll.WAY. 


WESTWARD,  HO! 


31 


THK    COUKSE   OF    KMPIKE. 


"And  it  doesn't  go  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an  hoin,"the  Doctor 
added. 

"I'm  not  sure  tliat  I  know  exactly  what  tlie  star  of  empire  means," 
said  Frank.  "  I  used  the  expression  as  I  have  seen  it,  but  can't  tell  what 
it  comes  from." 

He  looked  appealingly  at  Doctor  Bronson.  The  latter  smiled  kindly, 
and  then  explained  the  origin  of  the  phrase. 

"It  is  found," said  the  Doctor,  "in  a  short  poem  that  was  written  more 
than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  by  Bishop  Berkeley.  The  last  verse 
is  like  this: 

"  Westwnrd  tlie  course  of  empire  takes  its  way  ; 
The  first  four  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day  : 
Time's  noblest  ofFjipring  is  the  last." 


;32 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


"  You  see  tlie  popular  quotation  is  Nvrong,"  lie  added  ;  "  it  is  the  course 
of  empire  that  is  mentioned  in  the  poem,  and  not  the  star.'''' 

"I  suppose,"  said  Fred,  "that  the  Bishop  referred  to  the  discovery  of 
America  bj'  Columbus  'Alien  he  sailed  to  the  West,  and  to  the  settlement 
of  America  which  began  on  the  Eastern  coast  and  then  went  on  to  the 
West." 

"  You  are  exacth^  right,"  was  the  reply. 

Frank  added  that  he  thought  "star  of  empire"  more  poetical  than 
"  course  of  empire." 

"  But  course  is  more  near  to  the  truth,"  said  Fred,  "  than  star.  Don't 
you  see  that  Bishop  Berkeley  wrote  before  railways  were  invented,  and 
before  people  could  travel  as  they  do  nowadays?  Emigrants,  when  they 
went  out  West,  went  with  wagons,  or  on  horseback,  or  on  foot.  They 
travelled  by  day  and  rested  at  night.  Now — don't  you  see? — they  made 
their  course  in  the  daytime,  when  they  couldn't  see  the  stars  at  all ;  and 
when  the  stars  were  out,  tliey  were  asleep,  unless  the  wolves  or  the  Indians 
kept  them  awake.  They  were  too  tired  to  waste  any  time  over  a  twink- 
ling star  of  empire,  but  they  knew  all  about  the  course." 

There  was  a  laugh  all  around  at  Fred's  ingenious  defence  of  the  au- 
thor of  the  verse  in  question,  and. then  the  attention  of  the  party  was 
turned  to  the  scenery  along  the  route.     Although  living  near  the  line  of 


VAI.LEV    OF    THK    NKVERSISK. 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  NEVERSINK. 


33 


the  Erie  Railway,  neither  of  the  boys  liad  ever  been  west  of  his  station. 
Everytliing  was  therefore  new  to  the  youths,  and  they  took  great  interest 
in  the  panorama  that  unrolled  to  their  eyes  as  the  train  moved  on. 

They  were  particularly  jileased  with  the  view  of  tlie  valley  of  the 
Neversink,  with  its  background  of  mountains  and  the  pretty  town  of  Port 
Jervis  in  the  distance.  The  railway  at  one  point  winds  around  the  edge 
of  a  hill,  and  is  far  enough  above  the  valley  to  give  a  view  several  miles 
in  extent. 

Frank  had  heard  much  about  the  Starucca  Viaduct,  and  so  had  Fred, 
and  they  were  all  anxiety  to  see  it.     Frank  thought  it  would  be  better  to 


STARUCCA   VIADCCT. 


call  it  a  bridge,  as  it  was  only  a  bridge,  and  nothing  more ;  but  Fi*ed  in- 
clined to  the  opinion  that  "viaduct"  sounded  larger  and  higher. 

"And  remember,"  said  he  to  Frank,  "it  is  more  than  twelve  hundred 
feet  long,  and  is  a  hundred  feet  above  the  valley.  It  is  large  enough  to 
have  a  much  bigger  name  than  viaduct." 

Frank  admitted  the  force  of  the  argument,  and  added  that  he  didn't 
care  what  name  it  went  by,  so  long  as  it  carried  them  safely  over. 

When  they  were  passing  the  famous  place,  they  looked  out  and  saw 
the  houses  and  trees  far  below  them.  Fred  said  they  seemed  to  be  riding 
in  the  air,  and  he  thought  he  could  understand  how  people  must  feel  in  a 
balloon. 

Doctor  Bronson  said  he  was  reminded  of  a  story  about  the  viaduct. 

3 


34 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


"  Oh !  tell  it,  please,"  said  the  two  boys,  in  a  breath. 

"  It  is  this,"  answered  the  Doctor.  "  Wlien  the  road  was  first  opened, 
a  countrvmaii  came  to  the  backwoods  to  tlie  station  near  the  end  of  the 
bridge,  lie  had  never  seen  a  railway  before,  and  had  much  curiosity  to 
look  at  the  cars.  When  the  train  came  along,  he  stepped  aboard,  and 
before  he  was  aware  of  it  the  cars  were  moving.     lie  felt  the  lioor  trem- 


KIAGARA  FALLS,  FROM   THE    AMERICAN    SIDB. 


A   DAY   AT   NIAGARA.  35 

bling,  and  -as  he  looked  from  the  window  tlie  train  was  just  coming  npon 
the  viaduct.  He  saw  the  earth  falling  away,  apparently,  the  tree-tops  far 
below  him,  and  the  cattle  very  small  in  the  distance.  He  turned  pale  as 
a  sheet,  and  almost  fainted.  He  had  just  strength  enough  to  say,  in  a 
troubled  voice,  to  the  man  nearest  him, 

"  Say,  stranger,  how  far  does  this  thing  fly  before  it  lights?" 

"  I  don't  wonder  at  it,"  said  Fred  ;  "  you  see,  I  thought  of  the  same 
thing  when  the  train  was  crossing." 

The  railway  brought  the  party  to  Niagara,  where  they  spent  a  day 
visiting  the  famous  cataract  and  the  objects  of  interest  in  the  vicinity. 
Frank  pronounced  the  cataract  w-onderful,and  so  did  Fred;  whereupon  the 
Doctor  told  them  of  the  man  who  said  ^Niagara  was  not  at  all  wonderful, 
as  any  other  water  put  there  would  run  down  "over  the  Falls,  since  there 
was  nothinoj  to  hinder  its  doins:  so.  The  real  wonder  would  be  to  see  it 
go  up  again. 

They  looked  at  the  Falls  from  all  the  points  of  view.  They  went  un- 
der the  Canadian  side,  and  they  also  went  under  the  Central  Fall,  and  into 
the  Cave  of  the  Winds.  They  stood  for  a  long  time  w^atching  the  water 
tumbling  over  Horseshoe  Fall,  and  they  stood  equally  long  on  the  Ameri- 
can side.  When  the  day  was  ended,  the  boys  asked  the  Doctor  if  he 
would  not  permit  them  to  remain  another  twenty-four  hours. 

"  Why  so  ?"  the  Doctor  asked. 

"  Because,"  said  Frank,  with  a  bit  of  a  blush  on  his  cheeks — "  because 
we  want  to  write  home  about  Niagara  and  our  visit  here.  Fred  wants  to 
tell  his  mother  about  it,  and  I  want  to  write  to  my  mother  and  to  Mary, 
and — and—" 

"  Miss  Effie,  perhaps,"  Fred  suggested. 

Frank  smiled,  and  said  he  might  drop  a  line  to  Miss  Effie  if  he  had 
time,  and  he  was  pretty  certain  there  w'ould  be  time  if  they  remained  an- 
other day. 

Doctor  Bronson  listened  to  the  appeal  of  the  boys,  and  when  they  were 
through  he  took  a  toothpick  from  his  pocket  and  settled  back  in  his  chair 
in  the  parlor  of  the  hotel. 

"Your  request  is  very  natural  and  proper,"  he  answered  ;  "but  there 
are  several  things  to  consider.  Niagara  has  been  described  many  times, 
and  those  who  have  never  seen  it  can  easily  know  about  it  from  books 
and  other  accounts.  Consequently  what  you  would  write  about  the  Falls 
would  be  a  repetition  of  much  that  has  been  written  before,  and  even  your 
personal  impressions  and  experiences  would  not  be  far  different  from 
those  of  others.     I  advise  you  not  to  attempt  anything  of  the  kind,  and,  at 


36 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  CAVE  OF  THE  WINDS. 


all  events,  not  to  stop  here  a  day  for  that  purpose.  Spend  the  evening  in 
writing  brief  letters  home,  but  do  not  undertake  a  description  of  the  Falls. 
If  you  want  to  stay  a  day  in  order  to  see  more,  we  will  stay,  but  otherwise 
we  will  go  on." 

The  boys  readily  accepted  Doctor  Bronson's  suggestion.     They  wrote 
short  lettei-s,  and  Frank  did  not  forget  Miss  Effie.     Then  they  went  out  to 


ACROSS   THE   CONTINENT.  37 

see  the  Falls  bj  moonliglit,  and  in  good  season  they  went  to  bed,  where 
they  slept  admirably.  The  next  day  the  journey  was  resumed,  and  they 
had  a  farewell  view  of  Niagara  from  the  windows  of  the  car  as  they 
crossed  the  Suspension  Bridge  from  the  American  to  the  Canadian  side. 

On  they  went  over  the  Great  Western  Railway  of  Canada,  and  then 
over  the  Michigan  Central ;  and  on  the  morning  after  leaving  Niagara 
they  rolled  into  Chicago.  Here  they  spent  a  day  in  visiting  the  interest- 
ing places  in  the  Lake  City.  An  old  friend  of  Doctor  Bronson  came  to 
see  him  at  the  Tremont  House,  and  took  the  party  out  for  a  drive.  Under 
the  guidance  of  this  hospitable  citizen,  they  were  taken  to  see  the  City- 
hall,  the  stock-yards,  the  tunnel  under  the  river,  the  grain-elevators,  and 
other  things  with  which  every  one  who  spends  a  short  time  in  Chicago  is 
sure  to  be  made  familiar.  They  were  shown  the  traces  of  the  great  fire 
of  1870,  and  were  shown,  too,  what  progress  had  been  made  in  rebuilding 
the  city  and  removing  the  signs  of  the  calamity.  Before  the}^  finished 
their  tour,  they  had  absorbed  much  of  the  enthusiasm  of  their  guide,  and 
were  ready  to  pronounce  Chicago  the  most  remarkable  city  of  the  present 
time. 

As  they  were  studying  the  map  to  lay  out  their  route  westward,  the 
boys  noticed  that  the  lines  of  the  railways  radiated  in  all  directions  from 
Chicago,  like  the  diverging  cords  of  a  spider's  web.  Everywhere  they 
stretched  out  except  over  the  surface  of  Lake  Michigan,  whore  railway 
building  has  thus  far  been  impossible.  The  Doctor  explained  that  Chi- 
cago was  one  of  the  most  important  railway  centres  in  the  Laiited  States, 
and  owed  much  of  its  prosperity  to  the  network  they  saw  on  the  map. 

"  I  have  a  question,"  said  Frank,  suddenly  brightening  up. 

"  Well,  what  is  it  ?" 

"  Why  is  that  network  we  have  just  been  looking  at  like  a  crow  call- 
ing to  his  mates  ?" 

"  Give  it  up  ;  let's  have  it." 

"  Because  it  makes  Chi-ca-go." 

"  What's  that  to  do  with  the  crow  ?"  Fred  asked. 

"  Why,  everything,"  Frank  answered ;  ""  the  crow  makes  ye-caw-go, 
doesn't  it?" 

"  Now,  Frank,"  the  Doctor  said,  as  he  laughed  over  the  conundrum, 
"making  puns  when  we're  a  thousand  miles  from  home  and  going  west! 
However,  that  will  do  for  a  beginner ;  but  don't  try  too  often." 

Fred  thought  he  must  say  something,  but  was  undecided  for  a  mo- 
ment. The  room  was  open,  and  as  he  looked  into  the  hall,  he  saw  the 
chambermaid  approaching  the  opposite  door  with  the  evident  intention 


38 


TIIK   BOY  TRAVELLEIiS. 


FKUM   CHICAGO  TO   SAN   FRAR0I8CO. 


CROSSING   THE   MISSOURI    RIVER. 


39 


of  looking  through  the  keyhole.  This  gave  him  his  opportunity,  and  he 
proposed  his  question. 

"  Why  are  we  like  that  charnbertnaid  over  there  ?" 

"  The  Doctor  and  Frank  couldn't  tell,  and  Fred  answered,  triumph- 
antly, 

"  Because  we're  going  to  Pek-in." 

"  I  think  you  boys  are  about  even  now,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  and  may 
stop  for  the  present."  They  agreed  to  call  it  quits,  and  resumed  their 
study  of  the  map. 

They  decided  to  go  by  the  Northwestern  Railway  to  Omaha.  From 
the  latter  place  they  had  no  choice  of  route,  as  there  was  only  a  single  line 
of  road  between  Omaha  and  California. 

From  Chicago  westward  they  traversed  the  rich  prairies  of  Illinois  and 
Iowa — a  broad  expanse  of  flat  country,  which  wearied  them  with  its  mo- 
notony. At  Omaha  they  crossed  the  Missouri  River  on  a  long  bridge ; 
and  while  they  were  crossing,  Frank  wrote  some  lines  in  his  note-book  to 
the  effect  that  the  Missouri  was  the  longest  river  in  the  world,  and  was 
sometimes  called  the  "  Big  Muddy,"  on  account  of  its  color.     It  looked 


40  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

like  coffee  after  milk  has  been  added ;  and  was  once  said  by  Senator  Ben- 
ton to  be  too  thick  to  swim  in,  but  not  thick  enough  to  walk  on. 

Now  thoy  hiul  a  long  ride  before  them.  The  Union  Pacific  Railway 
begins  at  Omaha  and  ends  at  Ogden,  1016  miles  farther  west.  It  con- 
nects at  Ogden  with  the  Central  Pacific  Kjiilway,  882  miles  long,  which 
terminates  at  San  Francisco.  As  they  rode  along  they  had  abundant  time 
to  learn  the  history  of  the  great  enterprise  that  unites  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  coasts,  and  enables  one  to  travel  in  a  single  week  from  New  York 
to  San  Francisco.  The  Doctor  had  been  over  the  route  previously;  and 
he  had  once  crossed  the  Plains  before  the  railway  was  constructed.  Con- 
sequently, he  was  an  excellent  authority,  and  had  an  abundant  store  of 
information  to  draw  from. 

"  The  old  way  of  crossing  the  Plains  and  the  new  way  of  doing  the 
same  thing,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  "are  as  different  as  black  and  white. 
My  first  journey  to  California  was  with  an  ox  wagon,  and  it  took  me  six 
months  to  do  it      Now  we  shall  make  the  same  distance  in  four  days." 

"  What  a  difference,  indeed !"  the  boys  remarked. 

"We  walked  by  the  side  of  our  teams  or  behind  the  wagons,  we  slept 
on  the  ground  at  night,  we  did  our  own  cooking,  we  washed  our  knives 
by  sticking  them  into  the  ground  rapidly  a  few  times,  and  we  washed  our 
plates  with  sand  and  wisps  of  grass.  Wlien  we  stopped,  we  arranged  our 
wagons  in  a  circle,  and  thus  formed  a  'corral,'  or  yard,  where  we  drove 
our  oxen  to  yoke  them  up.  And  the  corral  was  often  very  useful  as  a 
fort,  or  camp,  for  defending  ourselves  against  the  Indians.  Do  you  see 
that  little  hollow  down  there?"  he  asked,  pointing  to  a  depression  in  the 
ground  a  short  distance  to  the  right  of  the  train.  "  Well,  in  that  hollow 
our  wagon-train  was  kept  three  days  and  nights  by  the  Indians.  Three 
days  and  nights  they  stayed  around,  and  made  several  attacks.  Two  of 
our  men  were  killed  and  three  were  wounded  by  their  arrows,  and  others 
had  narrow  escapes.  One  arrow  hit  me  on  the  throat,  but  I  was  saved  by 
the  knot  of  my  neckerchief,  and  the  point  only  tore  the  skin  a  little. 
Since  that  time  1  have  always  had  a  fondness  for  large  neckties.  I  don't 
know  how  many  of  the  Indians  we  killed,  as  they  carried  off  their  dead 
and  wounded,  to  save  them  from  being  scalped.  Next  to  getting  the 
scalps  of  their  enemies,  the  most  important  tln'ng  with  the  Indians  is  to 
save  their  own.  We  had  several  fights  during  our  journey,  but  that  one 
was  the  worst.  Once  a  little  party  of  us  were  surrounded  in  a  small 
'  wallow,'  and  had  a  tough  time  to  defend  ourselves  successfully.  Luckily 
for  us,  the  Indians  had  no  fire-arms  then,  and  their  bows  and  arrows  were 
no  match  for  our  rifles.     Nowadays  they  are  well  armed,  but  there  are 


FIGHTING   ON   THE   PLAINS. 


41 


not  so  many  of  them,  and  tliej  are  not  inclined  to  trouble  the  railway 
trains.  They  used  to  do  a  great  deal  of  mischief  in  the  old  times,  and 
many  a  poor  fellow  has  been  killed  by  them." 

Frank  asked  if  the  Doctor  saw  any  buffaloes  in  his  first  journey,  and  if 
he  ever  went  on  a  buffalo-hunt. 

"  Of  course,"  was  the  reply ;  "  buffaloes  were  far  more  numerous  then 
than  now,  and  sometimes  the  herds  were  so  large  that  it  took  an  entire  day, 
or  even  longer,  for  one  of  them  to  cross  the  road.  Twice  we  were  unable 
to  go  on  because  the  buffaloes  were  in  the  way,  and  so  all  of  us  who  had 
rifles  M-ent  out  for  a  hunt.  I  was  one  of  the  lucky  ones,  and  we  went  out 
in  a  party  of  four.  Creeping  along  behind  a  ridge  of  earth,  we  managed 
to  get  near  two  buffaloes  that  were  slightly  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
herd.  We  spread  out,  and  agreed  tliat,  at  a  given  signal  from  the  fore- 
most man,  we  were  to  fire  tosrether — two  at  one  buffalo  and  two  at  the 
other.  We  fired  as  we  had  aorreed.  One  buffalo  fell  with  a  severe 
w^ound,  and  was  soon  finished  with  a  bullet  through  his  heart ;  the  other 
turned  and  ran  upon  us,  and,  as  T  was  the  first  man  he  saw,  he  ran  at  me. 
Just  then  I  remembered  that  I  had  foi-gotten  something  at  the  camp,  and, 
as  I  wanted  it  at  once,  I  started  back  for  it  as  fast  as  I  could  go.     It  was 


42 


THK    BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


a  sharp  race  between  the  buffalo  ami  me,  and,  as  lie  had  twice  as  many 
legs  as  I  could  count,  he  made  the  best  speed.  I  could  hear  his  heavy 
breathing  close  behind  me,  and  his  footsteps,  as  he  galloped  along, 
sounded  as  though  somebody  were  pounding  the  ground  with  a  large 
hammer.  Just  as  I  began  to  think  he  would  soon  have  me  on  his  horns, 
I  heard  the  report  of  a  rifle  at  one  side.  Then  the  buffalo  stumbled  and 
fell,  and  I  ventured  to  look  around.  One  of  the  men  from  camp  had 
lired  just  in  time  to  save  me  from  a  \evy  unpleasant  predicament,  and  I 
concluded  I  didn't  want  any  more  buffalo-hunting  for  that  day." 

Hardly  had  the  Doctor  finished  his  story  when  there  was  a  long 
whistle  from  the  locomotive,  followed  by  several  short  ones.  The  speed 
of  the  train  was  slackened,  and,  while  the  passengers  were  wondering 
wliat  was  t\\e  matter,  the  conductor  came  into  the  car  where  our  friends 
were  seated  and  told  them  there  was  a  herd  of  buffaloes  crossing  the 
track. 

"  We  shall  run  slowly  through  the  herd,"  the  conductor  explained, 
"and  you  will  have  a  good  chance  to  see  the  buffalo  at  home." 

They  opened  the  windows  and  looked  out.     Sure  enough;  the  plain 


HbKD    OF    BCFFALOES    MOVING. 


AMONG   THE   BUFFALOES. 


43 


was  covered,  away  to  the  soutli,  with  a  dark  expanse  like  a  forest,  but, 
unlike  a  forest,  it  appeared  to  be  in  motion.  Very  soon  it  was  apparent 
that  what  seemed  to  be  a  forest  was  a  herd  of  animals. 

As  the  train  approached  the  spot  where  the  herd  was  crossing  the 
track,  the  locomotive  gave  its  loudest  and  shrillest  shrieks.     The  uoise 


//,i/&M/If. 


AN    OLD    SETTLEK. 


44 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


had  the  effect  of  frightening  the  buffaloes  sufficiently  to  stop  those  which 
had  not  crossed,  and  in  the  gap  thus  formed  the  train  moved  on.  The 
boys  were  greatly  interested  in  the  appearance  of  the  beasts,  and  Frank 
declared  he  had  never  seen  anything  that  looked  more  fierce  than  one  of 
tiie  old  bulls,  with  his  shaggy  mane,  his  humped  shoulders,  and  his  sharp, 
glittering  eyes.  He  was  quite  contented  with  the  shelter  of  the  railway- 
car,  and  said  if  the  buffalo  wanted  him  he  must  come  inside  to  get  him  ; 
or  give  him  a  good  rifle,  so  that  they  could  meet  on  equal  terms. 

Several  of  the  passengers  tired  at  the  buffaloes,  but  Fred  was  certain 
he  did  not  see  anything  drop.  In  half  an  hour  the  train  had  passed 
through  the  herd,  and  was  moving  on  as  fast  as  ever. 

On  and  on  they  went.  The  Doctor  pointed  out  many  places  of  inter- 
est, and  told  them  how  the  road  was  built  through  the  wilderness. 

"  It  was,"  said  he,  "  the  most  remarkable  enterprise,  in  some  respects, 
that  has  ever  been  known.  The  working  force  was  divided  into  parties 
like  the  divisions  of  an  army,  and  each  had  its  separate  duties.  Ties  were 
cut  and  hauled  to  the  line  of  the  road  ;  the  ground  was  broken  and  made 
ready  for  the  track ;  then  the  ties  were  placed  in  position,  the  rails  were 
brought  forward  and  spiked  in  place,  and  so,  length  by  length,  the  road 
crept  on.  On  the  level,  open  country,  four  or  tive  miles  of  road  were 
built  every  day,  and  in  one  instance  they  built  more  than  seven  miles  in 
a  single  day.  There  was  a  construction-train,  where  the  laborers  boarded 
and  lodged,  and  this  train  went  forward  every  day  with  the  road.  It  was 
a  sort  of  moving  city,  and  was  known  as  the  '  End  of  Track ;'  there  was  a 
post-office  in  it,  and  a  man  who  lived  there  could  get  his  letters  the  same 
as  though  his  residence  had  been  stationary.      The  Union  Pacific  Com- 


"exd  of  track." 


THE   PACIFIC   RAILWAY. 


45 


pany  built  west  from  Omaha,  while  the  Central  Pacific  Company  built 
east  from  Sacramento.  They  met  in  the  Great  Salt  Lake  valley ;  and 
then  there  was  a  grand  ceremony  over  the  placing  of  the  last  rail  to  con- 
nect the  East  with  the  West.  The  continent  was  spanned  by  the  railway, 
and  our  great  seaboards  were  neighbors." 

Westward  and  westward  went  our  travellers.  From  the  Missouri 
Kiver,  the  train  crept  gently  up  the  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  till  it 
halted  to  take  breath  at  the  summit  of  the  Pass,  more  than  eight  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Then,  speeding  on  over  the  Laramie 
Plains,  down  into  the  great  basin  of  Utah,  winding  through  the  green 
carpet  of  Echo  Canon,  skirting  the  shores  of  Great  Salt  Lake,  shooting 
like  a  sunbeam  over  the  wastes  of  the  alkali  desert,  climbing  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  darting  through  the  snow -sheds  and  tunnels,  descending  the 
western  slope  to  the  level  of  the  Pacific,  it  came  to  a  halt  at  Oakland,  on 
the  shore  of  San  Francisco  Bay.  The  last  morning  of  their  journey  our 
travellers  were  among  the  snows  on  the  summit  of  the  Sierras;  at  noon 
they  were  breathing  the  warm  air  of  the  lowlands  of  California,  and 
before  sundown  they  were  looking  out  through  the  Golden  Gate  upon 


SSOW-SHEUS    ON    THE    PACIFIC    RAILWAY. 


4G 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


VIEW    AT    CAPE    HORN,  CENTRAL    PACIFIC    RAILWAY, 


the  bine  waters  of  tlie  great  Western  ocean.     Nowliere  else  in  the  world 
does  the  railway  bring  all  the  varieties  of  climate  more  closely  together. 

San  Francisco,  the  City  by  the  Sea,  was  fnll  of  interest  for  our  young 
adventurers.  They  walked  and  rode  through  its  streets ;  they  climbed  its 
steep  hill-sides;  they  gazed  at  its  long  lines  of  magnificent  buildings; 
they  went  to  the  Cliff  House,  and  saw  the  sea-lions  by  dozens  and  hun- 
dreds, within  easy  rifle-shot  of  their  breakfast-table ;  they  steamed  over 
the  bay,  where  the  navies  of  the  world  might  find  safe  anchorage ;  they 
had  a  glimpse  of  the  Flowery  Kingdom,  in  the  Chinese  quarter;  and  they 
wondered  at  the  vegetable  products  of  the  Golden  State  as  they  found 
them  in  the  market-place.     Long  letters  were  written  home,  and  before 


BY   THE   WESTERN   OCEAN. 


47 


they  had  studied  California  to  their  satisfaction  it  was  time  for  them  to 
set  sail  for  what  Fred  called  "  the  under-side  of  the  world." 


SEAL-ROCKS,   SAN    FRANCISCO. 


43 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ON   THE   PACIFIC  OCEAN. 

OFFICERS  and  men  were  at  their  posts,  and  the  good  steamer  Oceanic 
was  ready  for  departure.     It  was  a  few  minutes  before  noon. 
As  the  tii'st  note  was  sounded  on  the  bell,  the  gangway  plank  was 
drawn  in.     "One,"    "two,"   "three,"  "four,"    "five,"    "six,"   "seven," 
"eight,"  rang  out  from  the  sonorous  metal. 

The  captain  gave  the  order  to  cast  off  the  lines.  Hardly  had  the  echo 
of  his  words  ceased  before  the  lines  had  fallen.  Then  he  ran":  the  signal 
to  the  engineer,  and  the  great  screw  began  to  revolve  beneath  the  stern  of 


l>iiJ'AllTUUE    FUOil    SAX    FBAN'CISCO. 


FAREWELL   TO   SAN   FUANCISGO. 


49 


the  ship.  Promptly  at  the  advertised  time  tlie  linge  craft  was  under  way. 
The  crowd  on  tlie  dock  cheered  as  she  moved  slowly  on,  and  they  cheered 
again  as  she  gathered  speed  aiid  ploughed  the  water  into  a  track  of  foam. 
The  cheers  grew  fainter  and  fainter;  faces  and  forms  wei"e  no  longer  to 
be  distinguished  ;  the  waving  of  hats  and  kerchiefs  ceased  ;  the  long  dock 
became  a  speck  of  black  against  the  hilly  shore,  and  the  great  city  faded 
from  siofht. 


UROl-riNU    THK    PILOT. 


Overliead  was  the  immense  blue  dome  of  the  sky ;  beneath  and 
around  were  the  waters  of  San  Francisco  Bay.  On  the  right  was  Monte 
Diablo,  like  an  advanced  sentinel  of  the  Sierras;  and  on  the  left  M-ere  the 
sand-hills  of  tlie  peninsula,  covered  with  the  walls  and  roofs  of  the  great 
city  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  steamer  moved  on  and  on  through  the 
Golden  Gate  ;  and  in  less  than  an  hour  from  the  time  of  leaving  the  dock, 
she  dropped  her  pilot,  the  gangway  passage  was  closed,  ajid  her  prow 
pointed  to  the  westward  for  a  voyage  of  five  thousand  miles. 

"What  a  lovely  picture !"  said  the  Doctor,  as  he  waved  his  hand  tow- 
ards the  receding  shore. 


50 


TlIK   BUY   TRAVELLERS. 


THE   GOLDEN    GATE, 


"Win-  do  tliey  call  that  the 
Golden  Gate?"  Fred  asked. 

"Because,"  was  the  reply,  "it  is,  or  was,  the  entrance  to  the  land  of 
gold.  It  was  so  named  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  aiid  until 
the  completion  of  the  Overland  liaihvay  it  was  the  principal  pathway  to 
the  country  where  everybody  expected  to  make  a  fortune." 

"  It  is  very  wide,  and  easy  of  navigation,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "and 
yet  a  stranger  might  not  be  aware  of  its  existence,  and  might  sail  by  it  if 
lie  did  not  know  where  to  look  for  the  harbor.  A  ship  must  get  well  in 
towards  the  land  before  the  Golden  Gate  is  visible." 

"  How  long  shall  we  be  on  the  voyage.  Doctor?" 

"  If  nothing  happens,"  he  answered,  "we  shall  see  the  coast  of  Japan  in 
about  twenty  days.  We  have  five  thousand  nnles  to  go,  and  I  understand 
the  steamer  will  make  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  a  day  in  good  weather." 

"  Will  we  stop  anywhere  on  the  way  ?" 

"There  is  not  a  stopping-place  on  the  whole  route.  We  are  not  yet 
out  of  sight  of  the  Golden  Gate,  and  already  we  are  steering  for  Cape 
King,  at  the  entrance  of  Yeddo  Bay.  There's  not  even  an  island,  or  a 
solitary  rock  on  our  course." 

"  I  thought  I  had  read  about  an  island  where  the  steamers  intended 
to  stop,"  Fred  remarked. 

"  So  you  have,"  was  the  reply ;  "  an  island  was  discovered  some  years 
ago,  and  was  named  Brook's  Island,  in  honor  of  its  discoverer.  It  was 
thought  at  first  that  the  place  might  be  convenient  as  a  coaling  station, 
but  it  is  too  far  from  the  track  of  the  steamers,  and,  besides,  it  has  no 
harbor  where  ships  can  anchor. 


A   SHIP   FOUND   AFTER   FIFTY   YEARS. 


51 


"  There  is  a  curious  storj  in  connection  witli  it.  In  1816  a  ship,  the 
Canton^  sailed  from  Sitka,  and  was  supposed  to  have  been  lost  at  sea,  as 
she  never  reached  her  destination.  Fifty  years  later  this  island  was  dis- 
covered, and  upon  it  was  part  of  the  wreck  of  the  Canton.  There  were 
traces  of  tlie  huts  which  were  built  by  the  crew  during  their  stay,  and  it 
Avas  evident  that  they  constructed  a  smaller  vessel  from  the  fragments  of 
the  wreck,  and  sailed  away  in  it." 

"  And  were  lost  in  it,  I  suppose?" 

"  Undoubtedly,  as  nothing  has  ever  been  heard  from  them.  They  did 
not  leave  any  history  of  themselves  on  the  island,  or,  at  any  rate,  none  was 
ever  found." 

At  this  moment  the  steward  rang  the  preparatory  bell  for  dinner,  and 


IM    TUK    FIRE-ROOM. 


52  THE    BOY  TRAVELLEliS. 

the  conversation  ended.  Half  an  hour  later  dinner  was  on  the  table,  and 
the  passengei-s  sat  down  to  it. 

The  company  was  not  a  large  one,  and  there  was  abundant  room  and 
abundant  food  for  everybody.  The  captain  was  at  the  head  of  the  table, 
and  the  purser  at  the  foot,  and  between  them  were  the  various  passengers 
in  th6  seats  which  had  been  reserved  for  them  by  the  steward.  The  pas- 
sengers included  an  American  consul  on  his  way  to  his  post  in  China, 
and  an  American  missionarv,  bound  for  the  same  country.  There  were 
several  merchants,  interested  in  commercial  matters  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Far  East ;  two  clerks,  going  out  to  ap}^K)intments  in  China  ; 
two  sea-captains,  going  to  take  command  of  ships;  a  doctor  and  a  min- 
ing engineer  in  the  service  of  the  Japanese  government ;  lialf  a  dozen 
"globe-trotters,"  or  tourists;  and  a  very  mj'sterious  and  nondescript  in- 
dividual, whom  we  shall  know  more  about  as  we  proceed.  The  consul 
and  the  missionar}'  were  accompanied  by  their  families.  Their  wives  and 
daughters  were  the  only  ladies  among  the  passengers,  and,  according  to 
the  usual  custom  on  board  steamers,  they  were  seated  next  to  the  cap- 
tain in  the  places  of  highest  honor.  Doctor  Bronson  and  his  young 
companions  were  seated  near  the  purser,  whom  they  found  very  amiable, 
and  they  had  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table  the  two  sea-captains  already 
mentioned. 

Everybody  appeared  to  realize  that  the  voyage  was  to  be  a  long  one, 
and  the  sooner  the  party  became  acquainted,  the  better.  By  the  end  of 
diimer  they  had  made  excellent  progress,  and  foruied  several  likes  and 
dislikes  that  increased  as  time  went  on.  In  the  evening  the  passengers  sat 
about  the  cabin  or  strolled  on  deck,  continuing  to  grow  in  acquaintance, 
and  before  the  ship  had  been  twenty-four  hours  at  sea  it  was  hard  to  real- 
ize that  the  company  had  been  assembled  so  recentl}'.  Brotherly  friend- 
ships as  well  as  brotherly  hatreds  grew  with  the  rapidity  of  a  beanstalk, 
and,  happil}',  the  friendships  were  greatly  in  the  majority. 

Life  on  a  stean)ship  at  sea  has  many  peculiarities.  The  ship  is  a  world 
in  itself,  and  its  boundaries  are  narrow.  You  see  the  same  faces  day  after 
day,  and  on  a  great  ocean  like  the  Pacific  there  is  little  to  attract  the  at- 
tention outside  of  the  vessel  that  carries  you.  You  have  sea  and  sky  to 
look  upon  to-day  as  you  looked  upon  them  yesterday,  and  will  look  on 
them  to-morrow.  The  sky  may  be  clear  or  cloudy;  fogs  may  envelop 
you ;  storms  may  arise,  or  a  calm  may  spread  over  the  waters ;  the  great 
ship  goes  steadih'  on  and  on.  The  pulsations  of  the  engine  seem  like 
those  of  ];he  human  heart;  and  when  you  wake  at  night,  your  first  endeavor, 
as  you  collect  your  thoughts,  is  to  listen  for  that  ceaseless  throbbing.    One 


LIFK   AT   SKA. 


53 


falls  into  a  monotonous 
way  of  life,  and  the  days 
run  on  one  after  another, 
till  you  find  it  difficult  to 
distinguish  them  apart. 
The  hours  for  meals  are 
the  principal  hours  of  the 
day,  and  with  many  per- 
sons the  table  is  the  place 
of  greatest  importance. 
They  wander  from  deck 
to  saloon,  and  from  saloon 
to  deck  again,  and  hardly 
has  the  table  been  cleared 
after  one  meal, before  they 
are  thinking  what  they 
will  have  for  the  next. 
The  managers  of  ourgreat 
ocean  lines  have  noted 
this  peculiarity  of  human 
nature ;  some  of  them 
give  no  less  than  live 
meals  a  day,  and  if  a  pas- 
senger should  wish  to  eat 
something  between  times, 
he  could  be  accommo- 
dated. 

Our  young  friends 
were  too  much  absorbed  with  the  novelty  of  their  situation  to  allow  the 
time  to  hang  heavy  on  their  hands.  Everything  was  new  and  strange  to 
them,  but,  of  course,  it  was  far  otherwise  with  Doctor  Bronson.  Tiiey 
had  numy  questions  to  ask,  and  he  was  never  weary  of  answering,  as  he 
saw  they  were  endeavoring  to  remember  what  they  heard,  and  were  not 
interrogating  him  from  idle  curiosity. 

"  What  is  the  reason  they  don't  strike  the  hours  here  as  they  do  on 
land  ?"  Frank  inquired,  as  they  reached  the  deck  after  dinner. 

The  Doctor  explained  that  at  sea  the  time  is  divided  into  watches,  or 
periods,  of  four  hours  each.  The  bell  strikes  once  for  each  half-hour,  until 
four  hours,  or  eight  bells,  are  reached,  and  then  they  begin  again.  One 
o'clock  is  designated  as  "  two  bells,"  half-past  one  is  "  three  bells,"  and 


THK    ENOIXEKR    AT    HIS    I'OST. 


54  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

four  o'clock  is  "eight  bells."  Eight  o'clock,  noon,  and  midnight  are  also 
signalled  by  eight  strokes  on  the  bell,  and  after  a  little  while  a  traveller 
accustoms  himself  to  the  new  mode  of  keeping  time. 

Fred  remembered  that  when  they  left  San  Francisco  at  noon,  the  bell 
struck  eight  times,  instead  of  twelve,  as  he  thought  it  should  have  struck. 
The  Doctor's  explanation  made  it  clear  to  him. 

The  second  day  out  the  boys  began  to  repeat  all  the  poetry  the}-  could 
remember  about  the  sea,  and  were  surprised  at  the  stock  they  had  on  hand, 
Fred  recalled  something  he  had  read  in  Harper's  Magazine,  which  ran  as 
follows : 

"Far  upon  the  unknown  deep, 

'Mid  the  billows  circling  round. 
Where  the  tireless  sea-birds  sweep ; 

Outward  bound. 
Nothing  but  a  speck  we  seem. 

In  the  waste  of  waters  round, 
Floating,  floating  like  a  dream; 
(Outward  bound." 

Frank  was  less  sentimental,  and  repeated  these  lines : 

"Two  thing"!  break  the  monotony 
Of  a  great  ocean  trip: 
Sometimes!,  alas !  you  ship  a  sea, 
And  sometimes  see  a  sliip." 

Then  they  called  upon  the  Doctor  for  a  contribution,  original  or  select- 
ed, with  this  result : 

"  The  praises  of  the  ocean  grand, 
'Tis  very  well  to  sing  on  land. 
'Tis  very  fine  to  hear  them  carolled 
By  Thomas  Campbell  or  Childe  Harold ; 
But  sad,  indeed,  to  see  that  ocean 
From  east  to  west  in  wild  commotion." 

The  wind  had  been  freshening  since  noon,  and  the  rolling  motion  of 
the  ship  was  not  altogether  agreeable  to  the  inexperienced  boys.  They 
were  about  to  have  their  first  acquaintance  with  sea-sickness;  and  though 
they  held  on  manfully  and  remained  on  deck  through  the  afternoon,  the 
ocean  proved  too  much  for  them,  and  they  had  no  appetite  for  dinner  or 
supper.  But  their  malady  did  not  last  long,  and  by  the  next  morning 
they  were  as  merry  as  ever,  and  laughed  over  the  event.  They  asked  the 
Doctor  to  explain  the  cause  of  their  trouble,  but  he  shook  his  head,  and 
said  the  whole  thing  was  a  great  puzzle. 


TECULIARITIES   OF   SEA-SICKNESS. 


55 


THK    WIND    RISING. 


"Sea-sickness  is  a  mystery,"  said  lie,  "and  the  more  3^011  study  it,  tlie 
less  you  seem  to  understand  it.  Some  persons  are  never  disturbed  by  the 
motion  of  a  ship,  no  matter  how  violent  it  may  be,  while  others  cannot 
endure  the  slightest  rocking.  Most  of  the  suiferers  recover  in  a  short 
time,  and  after  two  or  three  days  at  sea  are  as  well  as  ever,  and  continue 
so.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  who  never  outlive  its  effects,  and 
though  their  voyage  may  last  a  year  or  more,  they  are  no  better  sailors 
at  the  end  than  at  the  beginning. 

"  I  knew  a  young  man,"  he  continued,  "  who  entered  the  Naval 
Academy,  and  graduated.  When  he  was  appointed  to  service  on  board 
a  ship,  he  found  himself  perpetually  sick  on  the  w^ater;  after  an  expe- 
rience of  two  years,  and  finding  no  improvement,  he  resigned.  Such 
occurrences  are  by  no  means  rare.  I  once  travelled  with  a  gentleman 
who  was  a  splendid  sailor  in  fine  weather;  but  when  it  became  rough, 
he  was  all  wrong,  and  went  to  bed." 

"  Were  you  ever  sea-sick.  Doctor?"  queried  Frank. 

"  Never,"  was  the  reply, "  and  I  had  a  funny  incident  growing  out  of 
this  fact  on  my  first  voyage.     We  were  going  out  of  New  York  harbor,^ 


56  THE   BOY   TRAVKLLKIIS. 

and  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  man  who  was  to  share  my  room.  As 
lie  K)oked  me  over,  he  asked  me  if  I  liad  ever  been  to  sea. 

"  1  told  him  I  never  liad,  and  then  he  remarked  tliat  I  was  certain  to 
be  sea-sick,  he  could  see  it  in  my  face.  He  said  he  was  an  old  traveller, 
and  rarely  suffered,  and  then  he  ^ave  me  some  advice  as  to  what  I  should 
do  when  I  began  to  feel  badly.     I  thanked  him  and  went  on  deck. 

"  As  the  ship  left  the  harbor,  and  went  outside  to  the  open  Atlantic, 
she  encountered  a  heavy  sea.  It  was  so  rough  that  the  majority  of  the 
passengers  disappeared  below.  I  didn't  suffer  in  the  least,  and  didn't  go 
to  the  cabin  for  two  or  three  liours.  Theie  I  found  that  my  new  friend 
was  in  his  bed  with  the  very  malady  lie  had  predicted  for  me." 

"  What  did  you  do  then.  Doctor  ?" 

"  Well,  I  repeated  to  him  the  advice  he  had  given  me,  and  told  him  I 
saw  in  his  face  that  he  was  sure  to  be  sea-sick,  lie  didn't  recover  during 
the  whole  voyage,  and  I  never  suffered  a  moment." 

The  laugh  that  followed  the  story  of  the  Doctor's  experience  was  in- 
terrupted by  the  breakfast-bell,  and  the  part}'  went  below.  There  was  a 
light  attendance,  and  the  purser  explained  that  several  passengers  had 
gone  ashore, 

"  Which  is  a  polite  way  of  saying  that  they  are  not  inclined  to  come 
out,"  the  Doctor  remarked. 

"  Exactly  so,"  replied  the  purser,  "  they  think  they  would  make  the 
best  ai>pearance  alone." 

Captain  Spofford,  who  sat  opposite  to  Frank,  remarked  that  he  knew 
an  excellent  preventive  of  sea-sickness.     Frank  asked  what  it  was. 

"  Always  stay  at  home,"  w'as  the  reply. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Frank,  "  and  to  escape  drowning  you  should  never 
go  near  the  water." 

Fred  said  the  best  thing  to  prevent  a  horse  running  away  was  to  sell 
him  off. 

Everj'body  had  a  joke  of  some  kind  to  propose,  and  the  breakfast 
party  was  a  merry  one.  Suddenly  Captain  Spofford  called  out, "There 
she  blows!"  and  pointed  through  the  cabin  window.  Before  the  others 
could  look,  the  rolling  of  the  ship  had  brought  the  window  so  far  above 
the  water  that  they  saw  nothing. 

"  What  is  it  ?"  Fred  asked. 

"  A  whale,"  Captain  Spofford  answered.  "  AVhat  he  is  doing  here,  I 
don't  know.     This  isn't  a  whalinfir-srround." 

They  went  on  deck  soon  after,  and,  sure  enough,  several  whales  were 
in  sight.     Every  little  while  a  column  of  spray  was  thrown  into  the  air, 


WUY   DOES   A  WHALE    "SPOUT?" 


57 


and  indicated  there  was  a  whale 
beneath  it. 

Frank  asked  Avhy  it  was  the 
whale  "  spouted,"  or  blew  up, 
the  column  of  spray.  Captain 
Spofford  explained  that  the 
whale    is    not,    properly    speak- 


^^^gj^^^g^^^i^lfe:     ing,    a     lish,    but 


an     animal 


"  He    has    warm    blood,  like    a 
~^~  „    .._  cow   or    horse,"    said   the   Cap- 

tain,  "  and  he  must  come  to  the 
surface  to  breathe.  He  takes  a  certain  amount  of  water  into  his  lungs 
along  with  the  air,  and  when  he  throws  it  out,  it  makes  the  spray  you 
have  seen,  and  which  the  sailors  call  a  spout." 

It  turned  out  that  the  Captain  was  an  old  whaleman.  The  boys 
wanted  to  hear  some  whaling  stories,  and  their  new  friend  promised  to 
tell  them  some  during  the  evening.  When  the  time  came  for  the  narra- 
tion, the  boys  were  ready,  and  so  was  the  old  mariner.  The  Doctor  joined 
the  party,  and  the  four  found  a  snug  corner  in  the  cabin  where  they  were 
not  likely  to  be  disturbed.  The  Captain  settled  himself  as  coinfortably 
as  possible,  and  then  began  the  account  of  his  adventures  in  j)ursuit  of  the 
monsters  of  the  deep. 


WHALli-SIIU'    ULTWAKO    UOUND. 


58 


THE   BOY   TKAVELLEllS. 


c 


CHAPTER  IV. 
ixcide:nts  of  a  whaling  voyage. 

APTAIN  SPOFFORD  was  a  weatlier-beaten  veterati  wl>o  gave  little 
attention  to  line  clothes,  and  greatly  preferred  liis  rough  jacket  and 


CAl'TAIN    SPOFFORD   TELLING    HIS    8TOBV. 


DECLINE   OF   THE   WHALE   FISHERY. 


59 


soft  hat  to  what  he  called  "  Sunday  gear."  He  was  nuich  attached  to  his 
telescope,  wliicli  he  had  carried  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  on  the 
present  occasion  he  brought  it  into  the  cabin,  and  held  it  in  his  hand 
while  he  narrated  his  whaling  experiences.  He  explained  that  he  could 
talk  better  in  the  company  of  his  old  spy-glass,  as  it  would  remind  him 
of  things  he  might  forget  without  its  aid,  and  also  check  him  if  he  went 
beyond  the  truth. 

"  There  are  very  few  men  in  the  whaling  business  now,"  said  he, 
"  compared  to  the  number  twenty-five  years  ago.  Whales  are  growing 
scarcer  eveiy  year,  and  petroleum  has  taken  the  place  of  whale-oil.  Con- 
sequently, the  price  of  the  latter  is  not  in  proportion  to  the  difficulty  of 
getting  it.  New  Bedford  used  to  be  an  important  seaport,  and  did  an 
enormous  business.  It  is  played  out  now,  and  is  as  dull  and  sleepy  as 
a  cemetery.  It  was  once  the  great  centre  of  the  whaling  business,  and 
made  fortunes  for  a  good  many  men  ;  but  you  don't  hear  of  fortunes  in 
whaling  nowadays. 

"  I  went  to  sea  from  New  Bedford  when  I  was  twelve  years  old,  and 
kept  at  M'haling  for  near  on  to  twenty-seven  years.  From  cabin-boy,  I 
crept  up  through  all  the  ranks,  till  I  became  captain  and  part  owner,  and 
it  was  a  good  deal  of  satisfaction  to  me  to  be  boss  of  a  ship,  I  can  tell  you. 
When  I  thought  I  had  had  enough  of  it  I  retired,  and  bought  a  small 
farm.     I  stocked  and  ran  it  after  my  own  fashion,  called  one  of  my  oxen 


60 


THE   BOY    TRAVELLERS. 


'  Port '  and  the  other  '  Starboard,'  had  a  little  mound  like  my  old  quar- 
ter-deck built  ill  my  garden,  and  used  to  go  there  to  take  my  walks.  I 
had  a  mast  with  cross-trees  Hxed  in  this  mound,  and  used  to  go  up  there, 
and  stay  for  hours,  and  call  out  '  There  she  blows !'  whenever  I  saw  a 
bird  fly  by,  or  anything  moving  anywhere.  I  slept  in  a  hammock  under 
a  tent,  and  when  I  got  real  nervous  I  had  one  of  mj'  farm-hands  rock 
me  to  sleep  in  the  hammock,  and  throw  buckets  of  water  against  the 
sides  of  the  tent,  so's  I  could  imagine  I  was  on  the  sea  again.  But 
'twasn't  no  use,  and  I  couldn't  cure  mvself  of  wantinsr  to  be  on  blue 
water  once  more.  So  I  left  my  farm  in  my  wife's  hands,  and  am  going 
out  to  Shanghai  to  command  a  ship  whose  captain  died  at  Ilong-Kong 
live  months  ago. 

"  So  much  for  history.     Now  we'll  talk  about  whales. 
"  There  are  several  kinds  of  them — sperm-whales,  right-whales,  bow- 
lieads ;  and  a  whaleman  can  tell  one  from  the  other  as  easy  as  a  farmer 

can  tell  a  cart-horse  from  a 
Shetland  pony.  The  most 
valuable  is  the  sperm-whale, 
as  his  oil  is  much  better,  and 
brings  more  money  ;  and 
then  we  get  spermaceti  from 
him  to  .  make  candles  of, 
which  we  don't  get  from 
the  others.  He's  a  funny- 
looking  brute,  as  his  head  is 
a  third  of  his  whole  length  ; 
and  when  you've  cut  it  off, 
there  doesn't  seem  to  be 
much  whale  left  of  him. 

"  I  sailed  for  years  in  a 
sperm  -  whaler  in  the  South 
Pacific,  and  had  a  good 
many  lively  times.  The  sperm-whale  is  the  most  dangerous  of  all,  and 
the  hardest  to  kill  ;  he  fights  with  his  tail  and  his  mouth,  while  the  oth- 
ers fight  only  with  their  tails.  A  right-whale  or  a  bow-head  will  lash  the 
water  and  churn  it  up  into  foam  ;  and  if  he  hits  a  boat  with  his  tail,  he 
crushes  it  as  if  it  was  an  egg-shell.  A  sperm-whale  will  do  all  this,  and 
more  too  ;  he  takes  a  boat  in  his  mouth,  and  chews  it,  -which  the  others 
never  do.  And  when  he  chews  it,  he  makes  fine  work  of  it,  I  can  tell  you, 
and  short  work,  too. 


S1'KKM-WHAI.K. 


LOSS   OF   THE   "ESSEX."  61 

"  Sometimes  he  takes  a  shy  at  a  ship,  and  rushes  at  it,  head  on.  Two 
ships  are  known  to  have  been  sunk  in  this  way  ;  one  of  them  was  the 
Essex,  wliich  the  wliale  ran  into  three  times,  and  broke  her  timbers  so 
tliat  she  filled.  The  crew  took  to  the  boats,  and  made  for  the  coast  of 
South  America.     One  boat  was  never  lieard  from,  one  reached  the  coast, 


"theee  shk  blows!" 


63 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


and  the  third  was  picked  up  near  Valparaiso  with  everybody  dead  but 
two,  and  those  barely  alive.  Provisions  and  water  had  given  out,  and 
another  day  would  have  finished  the  poor  fellows.  Another  ship  was  the 
Union,  which  was  stove  right  under  the  bows  by  a  single  blow  from  a 
sperm-whale,  and  went  down  in  half  an  hour. 

"  I  was  fifteen  years  old  when  I  pulled  my  first  oar  in  a  whale-boat ; 
I  was  boat-steerer  at  eighteen,  and  second  mate  at  twenty,  and  before 
I  was  twenty-one  I  had  known  what  it  was  to  be  in  the  mouth  of  a 
sperm-whale.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  I  got  out  of  it  as  fast 
as  I  could,  and  didn't  stop  to  see  if  my  hair  was  combed  and  my  shirt- 
collar  buttoned.  A  man  has  no  time  to  put  on  frills  under  such  circum- 
stances. 

"  The  way  of  it  was  this.  The  lookout  in  the  cross-trees — we  always 
keep  a  man  up  aloft  to  look  out  for  whales  when  we're  on  cruising 
ground — the  man  had  called  out, '  There  she  blows !'  and  everybody  was 

on  his  feet  in  an  instant. 
A  r      ^  (h  "'Where  away?'    shouted  the  first 

^  ^  V    mate. 

" '  Two  points  on  the  weather  bow.' 
"  And  before  the  words  had  done 
echoing  he  called  out  '  There  she  blows ' 
again,  and  a  moment  after  again.  That 
meant  that  he  had  seen  two  more  whales. 
"  We  put  two  boats  into  the  water, 
the  first  mate's  and  mine,  and  away  we 
went.  We  pulled  our  best,  and  the  boats 
fairly  bounced  through  the  waves.  It  was 
a  race  to  see  who  could  strike  the  first 
whale ;  we  had  a  good  half  mile  to  go, 
and  we  went  like  race-horses. 

"  Each  boat  has  six  men  in  her — a 
boat-steerer,  as  he  is  called,  and  five  at 
the  oai-s-  The  boat-steerer  handles  the 
harpoon  and  lance  and  directs  tJie  whole 
movement ;  in  fact,  for  the  time  he  is 
captain  of  the  boat. 

"  The  first  mate's  boat  headed  me  a 

little,  and  made  for  a  big  fellow  on  the 

starboard.     I  went  for  another,  and  we 

IMPLEMEST8  C8ED  IN  WHALING.         struck  almost  &t  thc  samc  instant.   With- 


STRIKING   A  WHALE. 


63 


in  three  boat-lengths,  I  stood  up,  braced  ray  feet  firmly,  poised  ray  har- 
poon, and  raade  ready  to  strike.  The  whale  didn't  know  we  were  about, 
and  was  taking  it  very  easy.  The  bow  of  the  boat  was  about  ten  feet 
from  his  black  skin  when  I  sent  the  iron  spinning  and  whizzing  away, 
and  buried  it  deep  in  his  flesh.  Didn't  he  give  a  jump!  You  can  bet 
he  did. 

"  '  Starn  all !  starn  all !  for  your  lives  !'  I  yelled. 

"  There  wasn't  a  moment  lost,  and  the  boat  went  back  by  tlie  force 
of  the  strong  arms  of  the  men." 

"  The  whale  lashed  about  and  then  '  breached ;'  that  is,  he  threw  his 
great  body  out  of  the  water,  giving  me  a  chance  to  get  in  a  second  har- 
poon. Then  he  sounded — that  is,  he  went  down — and  the  lines  ran  out 
80  fast  that  the  side  of  the  boat  fairly  smoked  when  they  went  over.  He 
i-an  off  two  hundred  fathoms  of  line  before  he  stopped,  and  then  we  felt 
the  line  slack  and  knew  he  would  soon  be  up  again. 

"  Up  he  came  not  a  hundred  yards  from  where  he  went  down,  and  as 
he  came  up  he  caught  sight  of  the  boat.  He  went  for  it  as  a  cat  goes  for 
a  mouse. 

"  The  sperm-whale  can't  see  straight  ahead,  as  his  eyes  are  set  far  back, 
and  seem  to  be  almost  on  his  sides.  He  turns  partly  round  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  a  boat,  then  ports  his  helm,  drops  his  jaw,  calculates  his  distance,  and 


AViiAi.i';  "breaching." 


64 


THE   BOY   TUAVELLEUS. 


goes  ahead  at  full  speed.  His  jaw  is  set  very  low,  and  sometimes  lie  turns 
over,  or  partly  over,  to  strike  his  blow. 

"This  time  lie  whirled  and  took  the  bow  of  the  boat  in  his  mouth, 
crushing  it  as  though  it  had  been  made  of  paper.  We  jumped  out,  the 
oars  flew  all  around  us,  the  sea  was  a  mass  of  foam,  and  the  whale  chewed 
the  boat  as  though  it  was  a  piece  of  sugar-candy  and  he  hadn't  seen  any 
for  a  month. 

'*  We  were  all  in  the  water,  and  nobody  hurt.  The  first  mate's  boat 
had  killed  its  whale  inside  of  ten  minutes,  and  before  he  tried  to  sound. 
They  left  the  wliale  and  came  to  pick  us  up;  then  they  hurried  and  made 
fast  to  him,  as  another  ship  was  coming  up  alongside  of  ours,  and  wo  might 
lose  our  game.  It  is  a  rule  of  the  sea  that  you  lose  your  claim  to  a  whale 
when  you  let  go,  even  though  you  may  have  killed  Iiim.  Hang  on  to  him 
and  he's  yours,  though  you  may  hang  with  only  a  trout-line  and  a  minnow- 
liook.     It's  been  so  decided  in  the  courts, 

"  The  captain  sent  another  boat  from  the  ship,  and  we  soon  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  my  whale  dead  on  the  water.  He  got  the  lance 
right  in  his  vitals,  and  went  into  his  'flurry,' as  wo  call  it.     The  flurry  is 


IN    TlIK    WHAI.K  a    JAW. 


SIZE   OF   WHALES.  65 

the  whale's  convulsive  movements  just  before,  death,  and  sometimes  he 
does  great  damage  as  he  thrashes  about." 

Frank  wished  to  know  how  large  the  whale  was,  and  how  large  whales 
are  generally. 

"  We  don't  reckon  whales  by  their  length,"  Captain  Spofford  answered, 
"  but  by  the  number  of  barrels  of  oil  they  make.  Ask  any  old  captain 
how  long  the  largest  whale  was  that  he  ever  took,  and  the  chances  are  he'll 
begin  to  estimate  by  the  length  of  his  ship,  and  frankly  tell  you  he  never 
measured  one.  I  measured  the  largest  sperm-whale  I  ever  took,  and  found 
him  seventy-nine  feet  long;  he  made  a  hundred  and  seven  barrels  of  oil. 
Here's  the  figures  of  him :  nose  to  neck,  twenty-six  feet ;  neck  to  hump, 
twenty-nine  feet ;  hump  to  tail,  seventeen  feet ;  tail,  seven  feet.  His  tail 
was  sixteen  feet  across,  and  he  was  forty-one  feet  six  inches  around  the  body. 
He  had  fifty-one  teeth,  and  the  heaviest  weighed  twenty-five  ounces.  "VVe 
took  nineteen  barrels  of  oil  from  his  case,  the  inside  of  the  head,  where  we 
dipped  it  out  with  a  bucket.  I  know  one  captain  that  captured  a  sperm- 
whale  ninety  feet  long,  that  made  a  hundred  and  thirty-seven  barrels,  and 
there  was  another  sperm  taken  by  the  ship  Monka^  of  New  Bedford,  that 
made  a  hundred  and  forty-five  barrels.    I  don't  know  how  long  he  was. 

"  There's  a  wonderful  deal  of  excitement  in  fastening  to  a  whale,  and 
liaving  a  fight  with  him.  You  have  the  largest  game  that  a  hunter  could 
ask  for;  you  have  the  cool  pure  air  of  the  ocean,  and  the  blue  waters  all 
about  you.  A  thrill  goes  through  every  nerve  as  3'ou  rise  to  throw  the 
sharp  iron  into  the  monster's  side,  and  the  thrill  continues  when  he  plunges 
wildly  about,  and  sends  the  line  whistling  over.  He  sinks,  and  he  rises 
again  ;  he  dashes  away  to-  windward,  and  struggles  to  escape  ;  you  hold 
him  fast,  and,  large  as  he  is  in  proportion  to  yourself,  you  feel  that  he  must 
yield  to  you,  though,  perhaps,  not  till  after  a  hard  battle.  At  length  he 
lies  exhausted,  and  you  approach  for  the  final  blow  M'ith  the  lance.  An- 
other thrilling  moment,  another,  and  another;  and  if  fortune  is  in  your 
favor,  your  prize  is  soon  motionless  before  you.  And  the  man  who  cannot 
feel  an  extra  beat  of  his  pulse  at  such  a  time  must  be  made  of  cooler  stuff 
than  the  most  of  us. 

"  But  you  don't  get  all  the  whales  you  see,  by  a  long  shot.  Many  a 
whale  gets  away  before  you  can  fasten  to  him,  and  many  another  whale, 
after  you  have  laid  on  and  fastened,  will  escape  you.  He  sinks,  and  tears 
the  iron  loose ;  he  runs  away  to  windward  ten  or  twenty  miles  an  hour, 
and  you  must  cut  the  line  to  save  your  lives;  he  smashes  the  boat,  and 
perhaps  kills  some  of  his  assailants ;  he  dies  below  the  surface,  and  when 
he  dies  there  he  stays  below,  and  you  lose  him;  and  sometimes  he  shows 

5 


QG 


THE  BOY   TIlAVliLLEUS. 


such  an  amount  of  toughness  tliat  he  seems  to  be.ir  a  charmed  life.  "Wo 
light  him  with  liarpoon  and  lance,  and  in  tliese  later  da^'s  they  have  an  in- 
vention called  the  bomb-lance  or  whaling-gnn.  A  bomb-shell  is  thrown 
into  him  with  a  gnn  like  a  large  musket,  and  it  explodes  down  among  his 
vitals.  There's  another  gun  that  is  fastened  to  the  shaft  of  a  harpoon,  and 
goes  off  when  the  whale  tightens  the  line ;  and  there's  another  that  throws 
a  lance  half-way  through  him.  Well,  there  are  whales  that  can  stand  all 
tliese  things  and  live. 

"  Captain  Hunting,  of  New  Bedford,  had  the  worst  fight  that  I  know 
of,  while  he  was  on  a  cruise  in  the  South  Atlantic.  When  he  struck  the 
fellow — it  was  a  tough  old  bull  that  had  been  through  fights  before,  I 
reckon — the  w'hale  didn't  try  to  escape,  but  turned  on  the  boat,  bit  her  in 
two,  and  kept  on  thrashing  the  wreck  till  he  broke  it  up  completely.  An- 
other boat  picked  up  the  men  and  took  them  to  the  ship,  and  then  two 
other  boats  went  in  on  him.  Each  of  them  got  in  two  irons,  and  that  made 
him  mad  ;  he  turned  around  and  chewed  those  boats,  and  he  stuck  closely 
to  business  until  there  wasn't  a  mouthful  left.     The  twelve  swimmers 


CAJTAl.N    UUNTINUS    FIUIIT. 


STOUY   OF   CAPTAIN   HUNTING. 


C7 


A    GAMK    IKLLOW. 


were  picked  up  by  the  boat  which  had  taken  the  first  lot  to  the  ship ;  two 
of  the  men  liad  cb'nibed  on  liis  back,  and  he  didn't  seem  to  mind  them. 
He  kept  on  cliewing  away  at  the  oars,  sails,  masts,  planks,  and  other  frag- 
ments of  the  boats ;  and  whenever  anything  tonched  his  body,  he  turned 
and  munched  away  at  it.  There  lie  was  with  six  harpoons  in  him,  and 
each  harpoon  had  three  hundred  fathoms  of  line  attached  to  it.  Captain 
Hunting  got  out  two  spare  boats,  and  started  with  them  and  the  saved 
boat  to  renew  the  fight.  He  got  alongside  and  sent  a  bomb-lance 
charged  with  six  inches  of  powder  right  into  the  whale's  vitals,  just  back 
of  his  fin.  When  the  lance  was  fired,  he  turned  and  tore  through  the 
boat  like  a  hurricane,  scattering  everything.  The  sun  was  setting,  four 
boats  were  gone  with  all  their  gear  and  twelve  hundred  fathoms  of  line, 
the  spare  boats  were  poorly  provided,  the  men  were  wearied  and  dis- 
couraged, and  Captain  Hunting  hauled  off  and  admitted  himself  beaten 
by  a  whale." 

The  nondescript  individual  whom  we  saw  among  the  passengers  early 
in  the  voyage  had  joined  the  party,  and  heard  the  story  of  Captain  Hunt- 


68 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


ing's  wliale.     Wlien  it  was  ended,  he  ventured  to  say  something  on  the 
subject  of  whaling, 

"  That  wasn't  a  circumstance,''  he  remarked, "  to  the  great  whale  that 
used  to  hang  around  the  Philippine  Islands.  He  was  reckoned  to  be  a 
king,  as  all  the  other  whales  took  off  their  hats  to  him,  and  used  to  get 
down  on  their  front  knees  when  he  came  around.  His  skin  was  like 
leather,  and  he  was  stuck  so  full  of  harpoons  that  he  looked  like'  a  porcu- 
pine under  a  magnifying-glass.  Every  ship  that  saw  him  used  to  put  an 
iron  into  him,  and  I  reckon  you  could  get  up  a  good  history  of  the  whale- 
fishery  if  you  could  read  the  ships'  names  on  all  of  them  irons.  Lots  of 
whalers  fought  with  him,  but  he  always  came  out  first  best.  Captain 
Sammis  of  tlie  Ananias  had  the  closest  acquaintance  with  him,  and  the 
way  he  tells  it  is  this: 

" '  We'd  laid  into  him,  and  his  old  jaw  came  up  and  bit  off  the  bow  of 
the  boat.  As  he  bit  he  gave  a  fling,  like,  and  sent  me  up  in  the  air;  and 
when  I  came  down,  there  was  the  whale,  end  up  and  mouth  open  waiting 
for  me.  His  throat  looked  like  a  whitewashed  cellar-door ;  but  I  saw  his 
teeth  were  wore  smooth  down  to  the  gums,  and  that  gave  me  some  con- 
solation. When  I  struck  his  throat  he  snapped  for  me,  but  I  had  good 
headway,  and  disappeared  like  a  piece  of  cake  in  a  family  of  children. 
Wlien  I  was  splashing  against  the  soft  sides  of  his  stomach,  I  heard  his 
jaws  snapping  like  the  flapping  of  a  mainsail. 

" '  I  was  rather  used  up  and  tired  out,  and  a  little  bewildered,  and  so  I 
sat  down  on  the  southwest  corner  of  his  liver,  and  crossed  my  legs  while  I 
got  my  wits  together.     It  wasn't  dark  down  there,  as  there  was  ten  thou- 


A    FUEK    RIDL. 


CAPTAIN   SAMMIS'S   ADVENTURE.  69 

sand  of  tliem  little  sea  jellies  shinin'  there,  like  second-hand  stars,  in  the 
wrinkles  of  his  stomach,  and  then  there  was  lots  of  room  too.  Bv-an'-by, 
while  I  was  lookin'  round,  I  saw  a  black  patch  on  the  starboard  side  of  his 
stomach,  and  went  over  to  examine  it.  There  I  found  printed  in  injey  ink, 
in  big  letters,  "Jonah,  B.C.  1607."  Then  I  knew  where  I  was,  and  I  be- 
gan to  feel  real  bad. 

" '  I  opened  my  tobacco-box  to  take  a  mouthful  of  fine-cut  to  steady 
my  nerves.  1  suppose  my  hand  was  a  little  unsteady  ;  anyhow,  I  dropped 
some  of  the  tobacco  on  the  floor  of  the  whale's  stomach.  It  gave  a  con- 
vulsive jump,  and  I  saw  at  ojice  the  whale  wasn't  used  to  it.  I  picked  up 
a  jack-knife  I  saw  layin'  on  the  floor,  and  cut  a  plug  of  tobacco  into  fine 
snuff,  and  scattered  it  around  in  the  little  wrinkles  in  the  stomach.  You 
should  have  seen  how  the  medicine  worked.  The  stomach  began  to  heave 
as  though  a  young  earthquake  had  opened  up  under  it,  and  then  it  squirmed 
and  twisted,  and  finally  turned  wrong  side  out,  and  flopped  me  into  the 
sea.  The  mate's  boat  was  there  picking  up  the  men  from  the  smashed 
boat,  and  just  as  they  had  given  me  up  for  lost  they  saw  me  and  took  me 
in.  They  laughed  when  I  told  them  of  the  inside  of  the  whale,  and  the 
printin'  I  saw  there ;  but  when  I  showed  them  the  old  jack-knife  with  the 
American  eagle  on  one  side  and  Jonah's  name  on  the  other,  they  stopped 
laughin'  and  looked  serious.  It  is  always  well  to  have  something  on  hand 
when  you  are  tellin'  a  true  story,  and  that  knife  was  enough*' 

"  Tliat  same  captain,"  he  continued,  "  was  once  out  for  a  whale,  but 
when  they  killed  him,  they  were  ten  miles  from  the  ship.  The  captain 
got  on  the  dead  whale,  and  sent  the  boat  back  to  let  the  ship  know  where 
they  were.  After  they  had  gone,  a  storm  came  on  and  drove  the  ship 
away,  and  there  the  captain  stayed  three  weeks.  He  stuck  an  oar  into 
the  whale  to  hang  on  to,  and  the  third  week  a  ship  hove  in  sight.  As  he 
didn't  know  what  she  was,  he  hoisted  the  American  flag,  which  he  hap- 
pened to  have  a  picture  of  on  his  pocket-handkerchief;  and  pretty  soon 
the  ship  hung  out  her  colors,  and  her  captain  came  on  board.  Captain 
Sammis  was  tired  of  the  monotony  of  life  on  a  whale,  and  so  he  sold  out 
his  interest  to  the  visitor.  He  got  half  the  oil  and  a  passage  to  Honolulu, 
where  he  found  his  own  craft  all  right." 

"  You  say  he  remained  three  weeks  on  the  back  of  that  whale."  said 
one  of  the  listeners. 

"Yes,  I  said  three  weeks." 

"  Well,  how  did  he  live  all  that  time?" 

"  How  can  I  tell  ?"  was  the  reply  ;  "  that's  none  of  my  business. 
Probably  he  took  his  meals  at  the  nearest  restaurant  and  slept  at  home. 


70 


THE    BUY    TKAVELLEliS. 


CAKfAlN    8AMMIS    SELLING    OUT. 


And  if  you  don't  believe  my  story,  I  can't  help  it — I've  done  the  best  I 
can." 

With  this  remark  he  rose  and  walked  away.  It  was  agreed  that  there 
M'as  a  certain  air  of  improbability  about  his  narrations,  and  Frank  vent- 
ured the  suggestion  that  the  stranger  would  never  get  into  trouble  on 
account  of  telling  too  much  truth. 

They  had  a  curiosity  to  know  something  about  the  man.  Doctor 
Bronson  questioned  the  purser  and  ascertained  that  he  was  entered  on 
the  passenger-list  as  Mr.  A.  of  America ;  but  whence  he  came,  or  what  was 
his  business,  no  one  could  tell.  He  had  spoken  to  but  few  persons  since 
they  left  port,  and  the  bulk  of  his  conversation  had  been  devoted  to 
stories  like  those  about  the  whaling  business. 

In  short,  he  was  a  riddle  no  one  could  make  out ;  and  very  soon  he 
received  from  the  other  passengere  the  nickname  of  "  The  Mystery." 
Fred  suggested  that  Mystery  and  Mr.  A.  M'ere  so  nearly  alike  that  the  one 
name  was  as  good  as  the  other. 

While  they  were  discussing  him,  he  returned  suddenly  and  said  : 

"The  Captain  says  there  are  indications  of  a  water-spout  to-morrow; 
and  perhaps  we  may  be  destroyed  by  it." 


WATER-SPOUT. 


71 


SHOOTING    AT    A    WATER-SPOUT. 


With  tliese  words  he  withdrew,  and  was  not  seen  any  more  that  even- 
ing. Fred  wished  to  know  what  a  water-spout  was  like,  and  was  promptly 
set  at  rest  by  the  Doctor. 

"  A  waterspout,"  the  latter  remarked,  "  is  often  seen  in  the  tropics,  but 
rarely  in  this  latitude.  The  clouds  lie  quite  close  to  the  water,  and  there 
appears  to  be  a  whirling  motion  to  the  latter;  then  the  cloud  and  the  sea 
beneath  it  become  united  by  a  column  of  water,  and  this  column  is  what 
we  call  a  water-spout.  It  is  generally  believed  that  the  water  rises,  through 
this  spout,  from  the  sea  to  the  clouds,  and  sailors  are  fearful  of  coming 
near  them  lest  their  ships  may  be  deluged  and  sunk.  They  usually  en- 
deavor to  destroy  them  by  firing  guns  at  them,  and  this  was  done  on 
board  a  ship  where  I  was  once  a  passenger.  When  the  ball  struck  the 
spout,  there  was  a  fall  of  water  sufficient  to  have  sunk  us  if  we  had  been 
beneath  it,  and  we  all  felt  thankful  that  we  had  escaped  the  danger." 


THE   BOY   TltAVELLKRS. 


CHAPTER   V. 

ARRIVAL    IN    JAPAN. 

THE  great  ship  steamed  onward,  day  after  day  and  nigbt  after  night. 
There  was  no  storm  to  break  the  monotony ;  no  sail  showed  itself 
on  the  horizon ;  no  one  left  the  steamer,  and  no  new-comers  appeai-ed ; 
nobody  saw  fit  to  quarrel  with  any  one  else ;  and  there  was  not  a  pas- 
senger who  showed  a  disposition  to  quari-el  with  his  surroundings.  Sto- 
ries were  told  and  songs  were  sung,  to  while  away  the  time;  and,  finally, 
on  the  twentieth  day,  the  captain  announced  tliat  they  were  approaching 
land,  and  the  voyage  would  soon  be  over. 

Our  young  travellers  had  found  a  daily  interest  in  the  instruments  by 
which  a  mariner  ascertains  his  ship's  position.  Frank  liad  gone  so  far  as 
to  borrow  the  captain's  extra  copy  of  "  Bowditch's  Navigator"  and  study 
it  at  odd  intervals,  and  after  a  little  while  he  comprehended  the  uses  of 
the  various  instruments  emplo\'ed  in  finding  a  way  over  the  trackless 
ocean.  He  gave  Fred  a  short  lecture  on  the  subject,  which  was  some- 
thing like  the  following: 

"  Of  course,  you  know,  Fred,  all  about  the  mariner's  compass,  which 
points  towards  the  north,  and  always  tells  where  north  is.  Now,  if  we 
know  where  north  is,  we  can  find  south,  east,  and  west  without  much 
trouble." 

Fred  admitted  the  claim,  and  repeated  the  formula  he  had  learned  at 
school :  Face  towards  the  north,  and  back  towards  the  south ;  the  right 
hand  east,  and  the  left  hand  west. 

''  Now,"  continued  Frank,  "  there  are  thirty-two  points  of  the  compass ; 
do  you  know  them  ?" 

Fred  shook  his  head ;  and  then  Frank  explained  that  the  four  he  had 
named  were  the  cardinal  points,  while  the  other  twenty-eight  were  the 
divisions  between  the  cardinal  points.  One  of  the  first  duties  of  a  sailor 
was  to  "  box  the  compass,"  that  is,  to  be  able  to  name  all  these  divisions. 

"Let  me  hear  you  box  the  compass,  Frank,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  who 
was  standing:  near. 


BOXING   THE   COMPASS. 


73 


FUAXK    STUDVING    NAVHiAlIO.N. 


"Certainly,!  can,"  Frank  answered,  and  then  began:  "Nortli,  north 
by  east,  north-nortlieast,  northeast  by  north,  northeast,  northeast  by  east, 
east-nortlieast,  east  by  north,  east — " 

"That  will  do,"  said  the  Doctor;  "you  have  given  one  quadrant,  or  a 
quarter  of  the  circle ;  I'm  sure  you  can  do  the  rest  easily',  for  it  goes  on  in 
the  same  way." 

"You  see,"  Frank  continued,  "that  you  know  b}^  the  compass  exactly 
in  what  direction  you  are  going;  then,  if  you  know  how  many  miles  you 
go  in  a  day  or  an  hour,  you  can  calculate  your  place  at  sea. 

"That  mode  of  calculation  is  called  'dead -reckoning,'  and  is  quite 
simple,  but  it  isn't  verj'  safe." 

"Why  so?"  Fred  asked. 


74  THE   BOY  TUAVELLEKS. 

"Because  it  is  impossible  to  steer  a  ship  with  absohite  accuracy  wlien 
she  is  rolling  and  pitching  about,  and,  besides,  the  winds  make  her  drift  a 
little  to  one  side.  Tlien  there  are  currents  that  take  her  oil  her  course, 
and  sometimes  they  are  ver}'  strong." 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  Fred  replied  ;  "  there's  the  Gulf  Stream,  in  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  everybody  has  heard  of ;  it  is  a  great  river  in  the  sea,  and  flows 
north  at  the  rate  of  three  or  four  miles  an  hour." 

"  There's  another  river  like  it  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,"  Frank  explained  ; 
"  it  is  called  the  Japan  Current,  because  it  flows  close  to  the  coast  of  Japan. 
It  goes  through  Behring  Strait  into  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  then  it  comes 
south  by  the  coast  of  Greenland,  and  down  by  Newfoundland.  That's 
what  brings  the  icebergs  south  in  the  Atlantic,  and  puts  them  in  the  way 
of  the  steamers  between  New  York  and  Liverpool. 

"  On  account  of  the  uncertainty  of  dead-reckoning,  the  captain  doesn't 
rely  on  it  except  when  the  fog  is  so  thick  that  he  can't  get  an  observa- 
tion." 
,  "  What  is  that  ?" 

"  Observing  the  positions  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  of  certain  stars 
with  relation  to  each  other.  That  is  done  with  the  quadrant  and  sextant ; 
and  then  they  use  a  chronometer,  or  clock,  that  tells  exactly  what  the  time 
is  at  Greenwich.  Then,  you  see,  this  book  is  full  of  figures  that  look  like 
multiplication-tables;  and  with  these  figures  they  'work  out  their  posi- 
tion ;'  that  is,  they  find  out  where  they  are.  Greenwich  is  near  London, 
and  all  the  tables  are  calculated  from  there." 

"  But  suppose  a  sailor  was  dropped  down  here  suddenly,  without 
knowing  what  ocean  he  was  in ;  could  he  find  out  where  he  was  without 
anybody  telling  him  ?" 

"Certainly  ;  with  the  instniments  I  have  named,  the  tables  of  figures, 
and  a  clear  sky,  so  as  to  give  good  observations,  he  could  determine  his 
position  with  absolute  accuracy.  He  gets  his  latitude  by  observing  the 
sun  at  noon,  and  he  gets  his  longitude  by  the  chronometer  and  by  obser- 
vations of  the  moon.  Wlien  he  knows  his  latitude  and  longitude,  he 
knows  where  he  is,  and  can  mark  the  place  on  the  map." 

Fred  opened  his  eyes  with  an  expression  of  astonislnnent,  and  said  he 
thought  the  science  of  navi<;ation  was  somethinf;  wonderful. 

c5  O  C» 

The  others  agreed  with  him  ;  and  while  they  were  discussing  the 
advantages  which  it  had  given  to  the  world,  there  was  a  call  that  sent 
them  on  deck  at  once. 

"  Land,  ho !"  from  the  lookout  forward. 

"  Land,  ho !"  from  the  oflicer  near  the  wheel-house. 


LAND,  HO! 


to 


V.OKKING    CI'    A    KECK»>NlNtt. 


"  Land,  lio !"  from  the  captain,  as  lie  emerged  from  his  room,  just  aft 
of  the  wlieel.     '-Where  away  ?" 

"  Dead  ahead,  sir,"  replied  the  officer.     "  'Tis  Fusiyama,  sir." 

The  boys  looked  in  the  direction  indicated,  but  could  see  nothing. 
This  is  not  surprising,  when  we  remember  that  sailors'  eyes  are  Accus- 
tomed to  great  distances,  and  can  frequently  see  objects  distinctly  long 
before  landsmen  can  make  them  out. 

But  by-and-by  they  could  distinguish  the  outline  of  a  cone,  white  as 
a  cloud  and  nearly  as  shadowy.  It  was  the  Hoi}'  Mountain  of  Japan,  and 
they  recognized  the  picture  they  had  seen  so  many  times  upon  Japanese 
fans  and  other  objects.     As  they  watched  it,  the  form  grew  more  and 


re 


THE    BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


more  distinct,  and  after  a  time  tliey  no  longer  doubted  that  they  looked 
at  Fusiyania. 

"  Just  to  think,"  Fred  exclaimed,  "  when  we  left  San  Francisco,  we 
steered  for  this  mountain,  five  thousand  miles  away,  and  here  it  is,  right 
before  us.     Navigation  is  a  wonderful  science,  and  no  mistake." 

As  the  ship  went  on,  the  mountain  grew  more  and  more  distinct,  and 
by-and-by  other  features  of  Japanese  scenery  were  brought  into  view. 
The  western  horizon  became  a  serrated  line,  that  formed  an  agreeable  con- 
trast to  the  unbroken  curve  they  had  looked  upon  so  many  days;  and  as 
the  sun  went  down,  it  no  longer  dipped  into  the  sea  and  sank  beneath  the 
waves.  All  on  board  the  ship  were  fully  aware  they  were  approaching 
land. 

During  the  night  they  passed  Cape  King  and  entered  Yeddo  bay. 
The  great  light-house  that  watches  the  entrance  shot  its  rays  far  out  over 
the  waters  and  beamed  a  kindly  welcome  to  the  strangers.  Slowly  they 
steamed  onward,  keeping  a  careful  lookout  for  the  numerous  boats  and 
junks  that  abound  there,  and  watching  the  hundreds  of  lights  that  gleamed 
along  the  shore  and  dotted  the   sloping  hill -sides.      Sixty  miles  from 


VIEW    IN    THK    BAY    OF    YEDDO. 


SIGHTS   IN   YEUDO   BAY. 


77 


Cape  King,  they  were  in  front  of  Yokohama ;  the  engines  stopped,  the 
anchor  fell,  the  chain  rattled  through  the  hawse-hole,  and  the  ship  was  at 
rest,  after  her  long  journey  from  San  Francisco.  Oiir  young  adventurers 
were  in  Japan. 

With  the  first  streak  of  dawn  the  boys  were  on  deck,  where  they  were 

joined  by  Doctor  Bronson.     The  sun  was  just  rising  when  the  steamer 

dropped  her  anchor,  and,  consequently,  their  first  day  in  the  new  country 

,  was  begun  very  early.     There  was  an  abundance  of  sights  for  the  young 

eyes,  and  no  lack  of  subjects  for  conversation. 

Hardly  was  the  anchor  down  before  the  steamer  was  surrounded  by* 
a  swarm  of  little  boats,  and  Frank  thought  they  were  the  funniest  boats 
he  had  ever  seen. 


JAPANESE  JUXK  AND  BOATS. 


"  They  are  called  '  sampans,' "  Doctor  Bronson  explained,  "  and  aie 
made  entirely  of  wood.  Of  late  years  the  Japanese  sometimes  use  copper 
or  iron  nails  for  fastenings ;  but  formerly  you  found  them  without  a  par- 
ticle of  metal  about  them." 

"  They  don't  look  as  if  the}'^  could  stand  rough  weather,"  said  Fred. 
"  See ;  they  are  low  and  square  at  the  stern,  and  higli  and  sharp  at  the 
bow ;  and  they  sit  very  low  in  the  water." 

"  They  are  not  in  accordance  with  our  notions,"  replied  the  Doctor ; 
"  but  they  are  excellent  sea-boats,  and  I  have  known"  them  to  ride  safely 
where  an  American  boat  would  have  been  swamped.  You  observe  how 
easily  they  go  through  the  water.  They  can  be  handled  very  readily, 
and,  certainly,  the  Japanese  have  no  occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  their 
craft." 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLKR8. 


FIRST   VIEW   OF   YOKOHAMA. 


79 


Frank  had  liis  eye  on  a  sampan  tliat  was  darting  about  like  an  active 
fish,  first  in  one  direction  and  then  in  another.  It  was  propelled  by  a 
single  oar  in  the  hands  of  a  brown-skinned  boatman,  who  was  not  encum- 
bered with  a  large  amount  of  superfluous  clothing.  The  oar  was  in  two 
pieces — a  blade  and  a  handle — lashed  together  in  such  a  way  that  they 
did  not  form  a  straight  line.  At  first  Frank  thought  there  was  something 
wrong  about  it ;  but  he  soon  observed  that  the  oars  in  all  the  boats  were 
of  tlie  same  pattern,  and  made  in  the  same  way.  They  were  worked  like 
sculls  rather  than  like  oars.  The  man  kept  the  oar  constantly  beneath 
the  water ;  and,  as  he  moved  it  forwards  and  back,  he  turned  it  partly 
around.  A  rope  near  his  hand  regulated  the  distance  the  oar  could  be 
turned,  and  also  kept  it  from  rising  out  of  the  water  or  going  too  far 
below  the  surface. 

Nearly  every  boat  contained  a  funny  little  furnace,  only  a  few  inches 
square,  where  the  boatman  boiled  his  tea  and  cooked  the  rice  and  fish  that 
composed  his  food.  Each  boat  had  a  deck  of  boards  which  were  so  placed 
as  to  be  readily  removed ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  were  secured  against  be- 
ing washed  away.  Every  one  of  these  craft  was  perfectly  clean,  and  while 
they  were  waiting  around  the  ship,  several  of  the  boatmen  occupied  them- 
selves by  giving  their  decks  a  fresh  scrubbing,  which  was  not  at  all  neces- 
sary. The  Doctor  took  the  occasion  to  say  something  about  the  cleanli- 
ness of  the  Japanese  houses,  and  of  the  neat  habits  of  the  people  gener- 
ally, and  added,  "  You  will  see  it  as  you  go  among  them,  and  cannot  fail 
to  be  impressed  by  it.  You  will  "never  hesitate  to  eat  Japanese  food 
through  fear  that  it  may  not  be  clean ;  and  this  is  more  than  you  can  say 
of  every  table  in  our  own  country," 

The  steamer  was  an- .      ^     

chored  nearly  half  a  mile 
from  shore.  English, 
French,  German,  and  oth- 
er ships  were  in  the  har- 
bor; tenders  and  steam- 
launches  were  moving 
about ;  row  -  boats  were 
coming  and  going;  and, 
altogether,  the  port  of 
Yokohama  presented  a 
lively  appearance.  Shore- 
ward the  picture  was  interesting.  At  the  water's  edge  there  was  a  stone 
quay  or  embankment,  with  two  inner  harbors,  where  small  boats  might 


JAPANESE    GOVERXMEKT    BOAT. 


80  THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

cuter  and  find  shelter  from  occasional  storms.  This  qnay  was  the  front 
of  a  street  where  earria^^es  and  pedestrians  were  moving  back  and  forth. 
The  farther  side  of  the  street  was  a  row  of  buildings,  and  as  nearly  every 
one  of  these  buildings  had  a  yard  in  front  filled  with  shade-trees,  the  effect 
Mas  pretty. 

Away  to  the  right  was  the  Japanese  part  of  Yokohama,  while  on  the 
left  was  the  foreign  section.  The  latter  included  the  row  of  buildings 
njentioned  above ;  they  stood  on  a  level  space  which  was  only  a  few  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  bay.  Back  of  this  was  a  range  of  steep  hills, 
which  were  covered  nearly  everywhere  with  a  dense  growth  of  trees  and 
bushes,  with  little  patches  of  gardens  here  and  there.  On  the  summits 
of  the  hills,  and  occasionally  on  their  sides,  were  houses  with  wide  ve- 
randas,' and  with  great  windows  capable  of  affording  liberal  ventilation. 
Many  of  the  merchants  and  other  foreigners  living  in  Yokohama  had 
their  residences  in  these  houses,  which  were  far  more  comfortable  than 
the  buildings  near  the  water.  Doctor  Bronson  explained  that  the  lower 
part  of  Yokohama  was  called  the  "  Bund,"  while  the  upper  was  known  as 
the  "  Bluff."  Business  was  transacted  in  the  Bund,  and  many  persons 
lived  there;  but  the  Bluff  was  the  favorite  place  for  a  residence,  and  a 
great  deal  of  money  had  been  expended  in  beautifying  it. 

The  quarantine  officials  visited  the  steamer,  and  after  a  brief  inspec- 
tion she  was  pronounced  healthy,  and  permission  was  given  for  the  pas- 
sengers to  go  on  shore.  Runners  from  tiie  hotels,  came  in  search  of  pa- 
trons, and  clerks  from  several  of  the  prominent  business  houses  came  on 
board  to  ask  for  letters  and  news.  *  Nearly  every  commercial  establishment 
in  Yokohama  has  its  own  boat  and  a  special  uniform  for  its  rowers ;  so 
that  they  can  be  readily  distinguished.  One  of  the  clerks  who  visited  the 
ship  seemed  to  be  in  search  of  somebody  among  the  passengers,  and  that 
somebody  proved  to  be  our  friend.  The  Mystery. 

The  two  had  a  brief  conversation  when  they  met,  and  it  was  in  a  tone 
60  low  that  nobody  could  hear  what  was  said.  When  it  was  over.  The  Mys- 
tery went  below,  and  soon  reappeared  with  a  small  satchel.  Without  a 
word  of  farewell  to  anvbodv,  he  entered  the  boat  and  was  rowed  to  the 
shore  at  a  very  rapid  rate. 

There  was  great  activity  at  the  forward  gangway.  The  steerage  pas- 
sengers comprised  about  four  hundred  Chinese  who  were  bound  for  Hong- 
Kong  ;  but,  as  the  steamer  would  lie  a  whole  day  at  Yokohama,  many  of 
them  were  preparing  to  spend  the  day  on  shore.  The  boats  crowded  at 
the  foot  of  the  gangway,  and  there  was  a  great  contention  among  the  boat- 
men to  secure  the  patronage  of  the  passengers.     Occasionally  one  of  the 


GOING   ASHORE. 


81 


men  fell  into  the  water,  owing  to  some  unguarded  movement ;  but  lie 
was  soon  out  again,  and  clamoring  as  earnestly  as  ever.  In  spite  of  the 
excitement  and  activity,  there  was  the  most  perfect  good-nature.  I^obody 
was  inclined  to  fight  with  any  one  else,  and  all  the  competitors  were  en- 
tirely friendly.  The  Chinese  made  very  close  bargains  with  the  boatmen, 
and  were  taken  to  and  from  the  shore  at  prices  which  astonished  the  boys 
when  they  heard  them. 

The  Doctor  explained  that  the  tariff  for  a  boat  to  take  one  person  from 
ship  to  shore  and  back  again,  including  an  hour's  waiting,  was  ten  cents, 
with  five  cents  added  for  every  hour  beyond  one.  In  the  present  instance 
the  Chinese  passengers  bargained  to  be  taken  on  shore  in  the  morning  and 
back  again  at  night  for  five  cents  each,  and  not  more  than  four  of  them 
were  to  go  in  one  boat.  Fred  thought  it  would  require  a  long  time  for 
any  of  the  boatmen  to  become  millionnaires  at  this  rate. 

Our  travellers  were  not  obliged  to  bargain  for  tlieir  conveyance,  as  they 
went  ashore  in  the  boat  belonging  to  the  hotel  where  they  intended  to 
stay.  The  runner  of  the  hotel  took  charge  of  their  baggage  and  placed  it 
in  the  boat ;  and  when  all  was  ready,  they  shook  hands  with  the  captain 
and  purser  of  the  steamer,  and  wished  them  prosperous  voyages  in  future. 
Several  other  passengers  went  ashore  at  the  same  time.  Among  them  was 
Captain  Spoiford,  who  was  anxious  to  compare  the  Yokohama  of  to-day 
with  the  one  he  had  visited  twenty  years  before. 

He  explained  to  the  boys  that  when  the  American  fleet  came  to  Japan 
in  1854,  there  was  only  a  small  fishing  village  where  the  city  now  stands. 
Yoko-hama  means  "  across  the  strand,"  and  the  city  is  opposite,  or  across 


YOKOHAMA   IN    1854. 

6 


82  THE   BOY   THAVELLEUS. 

the  strand  from,  Ivanagawa,  wliich  was  cstablislied  as  tlie  otficial  port. 
Tlie  consuls  formerly  had  their  offices  in  Kanagawa,  and  continued  to  date 
their  official  documents  there  long  after  they  had  moved  to  the  newer  and 
more  prosperous  town.  Yokohama  was  found  much  more  agreeable,  as 
there  was  a  large  open  space  there  for  erecting  buildings,  while  the  high 
blufifs  gave  a  cooling  shelter  from  the  hot,  stilling  air  of  summer.  Com- 
mercial prosperity  caused  it  to  grow  rapidly,  and  made  it  the  city  we  now 
find  it. 

They  reached  the  shore.  Their  baggage  was  placed  on  a  large  hand- 
cart, and  they  passed  through  the  gateway  of  the  Custom-house.  A  polite 
olficial,  who  spoke  English,  made  a  brief  survey  of  their  trunks ;  and,  on 
their  assurance  that  no  dutiable  goods  were  within,  he  did  not  delay  them 
any  further.  The  Japanese  duties  are  only  live  per  cent,  on  the  value  of 
the  goods,  and,  consequently,  a  traveller  could  not  perpetrate  much  fraud 
upon  the  revenue,  even  if  he  were  disposed  to  do  so. 

"  Here  you  are  in  Japan,"  said  the  Doctor,  4s  they  passed  through  the 
gate. 

"  Yes,  here  we  are,"  Frank  replied  ;  "  let's  give  three  cheers  for  Japan." 

"  Agreed,"  answered  Fred,  "  and  here  we  go — Hip !  hip !  hurrah  !" 

The  boys  swung  their  hats  and  gave  the  three  cheers. 

"  And  three  more  for  friends  at  home !"  Fred  added. 

"  Certainly,"  Frank  responded.  "  Here  we  go  again  ;"  and  there  was 
another  "  Hip !  hip  !  hurrah  !" 

"  And  a  cheer  from  you,  Frank,"  remarked  the  Doctor,  "  for  somebody 
we  saw  at  the  railway  station." 

Frank  gave  another  swing  of  his  hat  and  another  cheer.  The  Doctor 
and  Fred  united  their  voices  to  his,  and  with  a  hearty  shout  all  around, 
they  concluded  the  ceremony  connected  with  their  arrival  in  Japan. 


SERVANTS   IN   JAPAN.  83 


CHAPTER  YL 

FIRST   DAY   IN  JAPAN. 

nr'^HEY  Lad  no  difficulty  in  reaching  the  liotel,  as  they  were  in  the  hands 
-L  of  the  runner  of  the  establisliment,  who  took  good  care  tliat  they  did 
not  go  astray  and  fall  into  the  clutches  of  the  representative  of  the  rival 
concern.  The  publicans  of  the  open  ports  of  Japan  have  a  watchful  eye 
for  their  interests,  and  the  stranger  does  not  have  to  wander  long  in  the 
streets  to  find  accommodation.  The  Doctor  had  been  there  before,  and 
took  great  pains  to  have  his  bargain  made  with  the  utmost  exactness,  lest 
there  might  be  a  mistake  at  the  time  of  his  departure.  "  In  Europe  and 
Asia,"  he  remarked  to  Frank,  "  a  traveller  soon  learns  that  he  cannot  be 
too  explicit  in  making  his  contracts  at  hotels ;  if  he  neglects  this  little  for- 
mality, he  will  often  find  that  his  negligence  has  cost  him  something.  The 
last  time  I  was  in  Yokohama  I  had  a  very  warm  discussion  with  my  land- 
lord when  I  settled  my  bill,  and  I  don't  propose  to  have  a  repetition  of  it." 

The  hotel  was  much  like  an  American  house  in  its  general  character- 
istics, both  in  the  arrangement  of  the  rooms  and  the  style  of  furniture. 
The  proprietors  and  managers  were  foreigners,  but  the  servants  were  na- 
tive and  were  dressed  in  Japanese  costume.  The  latter  were  very  quiet 
and  orderly  in  their  manners,  and  made  a  favorable  impression  on  the 
young  visitors.  Frank  was  so  pleased  with  the  one  in  charge  of  his  room 
that  he  wished  he  could  take  him  home  with  him,  and  have  a  Japanese 
servant  in  America.  Testimony  as  to  the  excellent  character  of  servants 
in  Japan  is  nearly  universal  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  employed 
them.  Of  course  there  will  be  an  occasional  lazy,  inattentive,  or  dishon- 
est fellow,  but  one  finds  them  much  more  rarely  than  in  Europe  or  Amer- 
ica. In  general,  they  are  very  keen  observers,  and  learn  the  ways  and 
peculiarities  of  their  masters  in  a  remarkablj^  short  time.  And  once  hav- 
ino-  learned  them,  thev  never  forget. 

"  When  I  was  last  here,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  I  was  in  this  very  hotel, 
and  had  one  of  the  regular  servants  of  the  establishment  to  wait  on  me. 
The  evening  after  my  arrival,  I  told  him  to  have  my  bath  ready  at  seven 
o'clock   in   the   morning,  and   to   bring   a  glass   of  ice-water  when   he 


84 


THE   nOY   TRAVELLERS. 


A  WALK  THROUGH  THE  STREETS.  85 

waked  me.  Exactly  at  seven  he  was  at  my  bedside  with  the  water,  and 
told  me  the  bath  was  waiting  ;  and  as  long  as  I  remained  here  he  came  at 
precisely  the  same  honr  in  the  morning,  offered  me  the  glass  of  water, 
and  announced  the  readiness  of  the  batli.  I  never  had  occasion  to  tell 
him  the  same  thing  twice,  no  matter  what  it  was.  Occasionally  I  went  to 
Tokio  to  spend  two  or  three  days.  The  first  time  I  went,  I  showed  him 
what  clothes  I  wished  to  take,  and  he  packed  them  in  my  valise  ;  and  after- 
wards I  had  only  to  say  I  was  going  to  Tokio,  when  he  would  immediate- 
ly proceed  to  pack  up  exactly  the  same  things  I  had  taken  the  first  time, 
QY  their  equivalents.  He  never  made  the  slightest  error,  and  was  a  trifle 
more  exact  than  I  wished  him  to  be.  On  my  first  journey  I  carried  a 
bottle  of  cough-mixture  to  relieve  a  cold  from  which  I  happened  to  be 
suffering.  The  cold  had  disappeared,  and  the  bottle  was  empty  before  my 
second  trip  to  Tokio ;  but  my  faithful  servant  wrapped  it  carefully  in 
paper,  and  put  it  in  a  safe  corner  of  my  valise,  and  continued  to  do  so 
every  time  I  repeated  the  excursion." 

The  boys  wei'e  all  anxiety  to  take  a  walk  through  the  streets  of  Yoko- 
hama, and  could  hardly  wait  for  the  Doctor  to  arrange  matters  Math  the 
hotel-keeper.  In  a  little  while  everything  was  determined,  and  the  party 
went  out  for  a  stroll.  The  Doctor  led  the  way,  and  took  them  to  the 
Japanese  portion  of  the  cit}',  where  they  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  sights 
that  were  very  curious  to  them.  They  stopped  at  several  shops,  and 
looked  at  a  great  variety  of  Japanese  goods,  but  followed  the  advice  of 
the  Doctor  in  deferring  their  purchases  to  another  time.  Frank  thought 
of  the  tilings  he  was  to  buy  for  his  sister  Mary,  and  also  for  Miss  Efiie ; 
but  as  they  were  not  to  do  any  shopping  on  their  first  day  in  Japan,  he 
did  not  see  any  occasion  for  opening  the  precious  paper  that  Mary  had 
confided  to  him  previous  to  his  departure. 

Tliey  had  a  walk  of  several  hours,  and  on  their  return  to  the  hotel 
were  quite  weary  enough  to  rest  awhile.  Frank  and  Fred  had  a  whis- 
pered conversation  while  the  Doctor  was  talking  with  an  old  acquaint- 
ance ;  and  as  soon  as  he  was  at  liberty  they  told  him  what  they  had  been 
conversing  about. 

"We  think  we  want  to  write  home  now.  Doctor,"  said  Frank,  "and 
wish  to  know  if  you  approve  of  our  doing  so  to-day." 

"  By  all  means,"  replied  the  Doctor,  with  a  smile  ;  "  it  is  time  to  begin 
at  once.  You  are  in  a  foreign  country  and  there  are  plenty  of  things  to 
write  about.  Your  information  will  be  to  a  great  extent  new  and  inter- 
esting to  your  friends,  and  the  reasons  that  I  gave  you  for  not  writing  a 
long  letter  from  Niagara  do  not  exist  here." 


86 


THE    BOY    TKAVELLEKS. 


"  I  thouglit  yon  would  say  so,"  responded  Fred,  his  eyes  sparkling 
with  animation,  "  and  I  want  tOt  write  while  everything  is  fresh  in  my 
mind.     I  am  going  to  write  at  once." 

"  And  80  am  I,"  echoed  Frank  ;  "  here  goes  for  a  letter  to  friends  at 
home." 

Off  the  boys  ran  for  their  writing  materials,  and  in  a  little  while  they 
were  seated  on  .the  balcony  of  the  hotel,  and  niaking  their  pens  fairly  fly 
over  the  paper. 

Here  is  the  letter  from  Frank  to  his  mother : 


"  Yokohama,  August  ith,  1878. 
"  My  Dear  Mother  : 

"  I  wish  you  could  see  me  just  now.  I  am  sitting  on  the  veranda  of 
the  hotel,  and  Fred  is  at  the  table  with  me.  If  we  look  up  from  our  paper, 
we  can  see  out  upon  the  bay,  where  lots  of  ships  are  at  anchor,  and  where 
a  whole  fleet  of  Japanese  fishing-boats  are  coming  up  and  dragging  their 
nets  along  after  them.  Down  in  the  street  in  front  of  us  there  are  some 
funny-looking  men  with  trousers  as  tight  as  tlieir  skins,  and  making  the 


JAPANESE    MUSICIANS. 


GROUPS   OF   MUSICIANS   AND   FISHERMEN. 


87 


men  look  a  great  deal  smaller  than  they  are.  They  have  hats  like  small 
nnibrellas,  and  made  of  plaited  straw,  to  keep  the  sun  off,  and  they  have 
them  tied  down  under  the  chin  with  cords  as  big  as  a  clothes-line.  Doc- 
tor Bronson  says  these  are  the  lower  class  of  Japanese,  and  that  we 
haven't  seen  the  fine  people  yet.  There  are  three  musicians,  at  least  they 
are  called  so,  but  I  can't  see  that  they  make  much  that  I  should  call  music. 
One  of  them  has  on  one  of  those  great  broad  hats,  another  has  his  head 
covered  with  a  sort  of  small  cap,  while  the  third  has  his  skull  shaven  as 
smooth  as  a  door-knob.  The  man  with  the  hat  on  is  blowing  a  whistle 
and  ringing  a  small  bell,  the  second  is  beating  on  a  brass  plate  with  a  tiny 
drumstick,  while  the  third  has  a  pair  of  clappers  which  he  knocks  togeth- 
er, and  he  sings  at  the  same  time.  Each  of  them  seems  to  pay  no  atten- 
tion to  the  rest,  but  I  suppose  they  think  tliey  are  playing  a  tune.  Two 
of  them  have  their  legs  bare,  but  they  have  sandals  on  their  feet,  held  in 
place  by  cords  or  thongs.  The  man  with  the  hat  must  be  the  leader,  as  he 
is  the  only  one  that  wears  trousers,  and,  besides,  he  has  a  pocket-book  hung 
to  his  girdle.  I  wonder  if  they  make  much  money  out  of  the  music  they 
are  playing  ? 

"  A  couple  of  fishermen  just  stopped  to  look  at  the  musicians  and  hear 
the  music.  One  had  a 
spear  and  a  net  with  a 
basket  at  the  end,  and  the 
other  carried  a  small  rod 
and  line  such  as  I  used 
to  have  when  I  went  out 
for  trout.  They  didn't 
liave  much  clothing, 
though  —  nothing  but  a 
jacket  of  coarse  cloth  and 
a  kilt  made  of  reeds. 
Only  one  had  a  hat,  and 
that  didn't  seem  to 
amount  to  much.  The 
bareheaded  one  scowled 
at  me,  and  I  think  he 
can't  be  very  fond  of 
foreigners.  Perhaps  the 
foreigners  deserve  to  be 
scowled  at,  or,  at  any  rate, 
some  of  them  do.  jai-anese  fisuekmbs. 


88 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLEItS. 


"  We  have  seen  sneli  lots  of  things  to-day — lots  and  lots.  I  can't  be- 
gin to  tell  you  all  in  this  letter,  and  there  is  so  much  that  I  don't  know 
where  to  commence.  Well,  we  went  into  some  shops  and  looked  at  the 
things  they  had  to  sell,  but  didn't  buy  anything,  as  we  tliought  it  was  too 
soon.  One  of  the  shops  I  liked  very  much  was  where  they  sold  silk.  It 
wasn't  much  like  a  silk-shop  at  home,  where  you  sit  on  a  stool  in  front  of 
a  counter  and  have  the  clerks  spread  the  things  out  before  you.  In  this 
shop  the  silk  was  in  boxes  out  of  sight,  and  they  only  showed  you  what 
you  asked  for.  There  was  a  platform  in  the  middle  of  the  shop,  and  the 
clerks  squatted  down  on  this  platform,  and  unrolled  their  goods.  Two 
■women  were  there,  buying  some  bright-colored  stuff,  for  making  a  dress, 
I  suppose,  but  I  don't  know.  One  man  sat  in  the  corner  with  a  yardstick 
ready  to  measure  off  what  was  wanted,  and  another  sat  close  by  him  looking 
on  to  see  that  everything  Avas  all  right.  Back  of  him  there  were  a  lot  of 
boxes  piled  up  with  tlie  goods  in  them  ;.and  whenever  anything  was  wanted, 
he  jjassed  it  out.  You  should  have  seen  how  solemn  they  all  looked,  and 
how  one  woman  counted  on  her  fingers  to  see  how  much  it  was  all  coming 
to,  just  as  folks  do  at  home.  In  a  corner  opposite  the  man  with  the  yard- 
stick there  was  a  man  who  kept  the  accounts.  He  was  squatted  on  the 
floor  like  the  rest,  and  had  his  books  all  round  him ;  and  when  a  sale  was 
made,  he  put  it  down  in  figures  that  I  couldn't  read  in  a  week. 

"  Then  it  was  ever  so  funny  to  see  the  men  bowing  to  each  other ;  they 
did  it  M'ith  so  much  dignity,  as  if  they  had  all  been  princes,  or  something 
of  the  sort.  They  rest  their  hands  on  their  knees,  and  then  bend  the 
body  forward  ;  and  sometimes  they  bend  so  low  that  their  backs  are  level 


JAPANESE   SILK-SHOP. 


89 


90 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


enough  to  set  out  a  tea-service  on  and  use  them  for  a  table.  When  tliey 
want  to  bid  good-bye,  they  say  '  Sayonara,' just  as  we  say  'Good-bye,' 
and  it  means  exactly  the  same  thing.  Tliey  are  not  satisfied  with  one 
bow,  but  keep  on  several  times,  until  you  begin  to  wonder  when  they  will 
get  through.  Everybody  says  they  are  the  politest  people  in  the  world, 
and  I  can  readily  believe  it  if  what  I  have  seen  is  a  fair  sample. 

"  There  have  been  several  men  around  the  hotel  trying  to  sell  things 
to  us,  and  we  have  been  looking  at  4hem.  One  thing  I  am  going  to  get 
and  send  in  this  letter  is  a  box  of  Japanese  pictures.  They  are  not  photo- 
graphs, but  real  drawings  by  Japanese  artists,  and  printed  on  Japanese 
paper.  You  will  see  how  soft  and  nice  the  paper  is  ;  and  though  the  pict- 
ures look  rough,  they  are  very  good,  and,  above  all  things,  they  are  truth- 
ful. I  am  going  to  get  as  many  different  ones  as  I  can,  and  so  I  think 
you  will  be  able  to  get  a  good  idea  of  the  couutr}^  as  the  natives  see  it 
themselves.  They  have  these  pictures  showing  all  their  ways  of  life — how 
they  cook  their  food,  how  they  eat  it,  how  they  work,  how  they  play — in 
fact,  how  everything  is  done  in  this  very  curious  country.  The  Japanese 
make  their  drawings  with  very  few  lines,  and  it  will  astonish  you  to  see 
how  much  they  can  express  with  a  few  strokes  of  a  pencil,     llere  is  a 


SEVBN-STBOKi:    HORSE. 


A   JAPANESE   PILLOW. 


91 


KEMALli    HKAD-DKKSS. 


picture  of  a  horse  drawn  with  seven  strokes  of  the  artist's  finger-nail  dip- 
ped in  ink,  and  with  a  few  tonches  of  a  wide  brush  for  the  mane  and  tail. 
Do  you  tliink  my  old  drawing-master  at  home  could  do  the  same  thing  ? 

"The  pillows  they  sleep  on  would  never  do  for  us.  A  Japanese  pillow 
is  a  block  of  wood  with  a  rest  for  the  head,  or  rather  for  the  neck,  as  the 
head  doesn't  touch  it  at 
all,  except  just  below  the 
ear.  It  is  only  a  few  inch- 
es long  and  high,  and  is 
perfectly  hard,  as  the  lit- 
tle piece  of  paper  they 
put  on  it  is  intended  for 
cleanliness,  and  not  to 
make  the  pillow  soft. 
You  can't  turn  over  on 
one  of  them,  and  as  for 
doubling  them  up  to 
throw  at  another  boy,  it 
is  quite  out  of  the  ques- 
tion.    I  shall  put  in   a 

picture  of  a  Japanese  woman  lying  down  \vith  her  head  on  one  of  these 
curious  things.  The  women  have  their  liair  done  up  so  elaborately  that 
they  must  sleep  on  something  that  does  not  disturb  it,  as  they  can't  afford 
the  time  and  trouble  for  tixing  it  every  morning.  You'll  find  a  picture 
of  their  head-dress  in  the  lot  I  send  with  this ;  but  it  is  from  a  sketch  by 
a  foreigner,  and  not  by  a  native. 

"  Perhaps  you  will  want  to  know  something  about  the  weather  in  Japan. 
It  is  very  warm  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  but  the  mornings  and  evenings 

are  delightful.  Around  where 
we  are  the  ground  is  flat,  and 
the  heat  is  greater  than  back 


among  the  hills.  People  re- 
main as  quiet  as  possible  dur- 
ing the  middle  of  the  day  ;  and 
if  you  go  around  the  shops  at 
that  time,  you  find  nearly  ev- 
eiybody  asleep  who  can  afford 
to  be  so.  The  Japanese  houses  are  all  so  open  that  you  see  everything 
that  is  going  on,  and  they  think  nothing  of  lying  down  in  full  sight  of 
the  street.     Since  the  foreigners  came  to  Yokohama,  the  natives  are  some- 


TIIE    SIESTA. 


92 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


what  more  particular  about  their  liouses  than  they  used  to  be ;  at  any 
rate,  it  is  said  so  by  tliose  who  ought  to  know.  The  weather  is  so  warm 
in  summer  that  the  natives  do  not  need  to  wear  much  elotliing,  and  I  sup- 
pose tliat  is  the  reason  why  they  are  so  careless  about  their  ai)pearance. 
In  the  last  few  years  the  government  has  become  very  particular  about 
having  the  people  properly  dressed,  and  has  issued  orders  compelling 
them  to  put  on  sufficient  clothing  to  cover  them  whenever  they  go  out  of 
dooi-s.  Tiiey  enforce  these  orders  very  rigidly  in  the  cities  and  large 
towns ;  but  in  the  country  the  people  go  around  pretty  much  as  they  used 
to.  Of  course,  you  understand  I  am  speaking  of  the  lower  classes  only, 
and  not  of  the  aristocracy.  The  latter  are  as  careful  about  their  garments 
as  the  best  people  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  and  they  often  spend 
hours  over  their  toilets.  A  Japanese  noble  gotten  up  in  line  old  style  is  a 
siglit  worth  going  a  long  distance  to  see,  and  he  knows  it  too.  He  has  a 
lot  of  stiff  silks  and  heavy  robes  that  cost  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  they 
must  be  arranged  with  the  greatest  care,  as  the  least  displacement  is  a 
serious  affair.  I  haven't  seen  one  of  them  yet,  and  Doctor  Bronson  says 
we  may  not  see  any  during  our  stay  in  Japan,  as  the  government  has 
abolished  the  old  dress,  and  adopted  that  of  Western  Europe.  It  is  too 
bad  that  they  have  done  so,  as  the  Japanese  dress  is  very  becoming  to  the 
people — ever  so  much  more  so  than  the  new  one  they  have  taken.     Japan 


JAPANESE    AT    HIS    TOILET    FOU    A    VISIT    OF    CEKKMO.NV. 


AN   IMPORTANT   DISCOVERY.  93 

is  fast  losing  its  national  characteristics,  throngli  the  eagerness  of  the 
government  to  follow  AYestern  fashions.  What  a  pity !  I  do  hope  I 
shall  be  able  to  see  one  of  those  old-fashioned  dresses,  and  won't  mind 
how  far  I  have  to  go  for  it. 

" Isow,  mother,  this  letter  is  addressed  to  you,  but  it  is  intended  for 
everybody ;  and  I  know  you'll  read  it  to  everybody,  and  have  it  lianded 
round,  so  that  all  can  know  where  I  am  and  wliat  I  have  told  you  about 
Japan.  When  I  don't  write  to  each  one  of  you,  I  know  you  will  under- 
stand why  it  is, — because  I  am  so  busy, and  trying  to  learn  all  lean.  Give 
my  love  to  each  and  every  one  in  the  family,  and  tell  Mary  she  knows 
somebody  outside  of  it  that  wants  a  share.  Tell  her  I  often  think  of  the 
morning  we  left,  and  how  a  handkerchief  waved  from  the  railway  station 
when  we  came  away.  And  tell  Mary,  too,  that  I  haven't  yet  opened  her 
list  of  things  I  am  to  get  for  her ;  but  I  haven't  forgotten  it,  and  have  it 
all  safe  and  right.  There  are  lots  of  pretty  things  to  buy  here ;  and  if  she 
has  made  a  full  catalogue  of  Japanese  curiosities,  she  has  given  me  enough 
to  do  for  the  present — and  the  presents. 

"  Good-night,  dear  mother,  and  look  for  another  letter  by  the  next 
mail. 

"  Your  loving  son, 

"Frank." 

Fred  finished  his  letter  almost  at  the  same  moment  that  Frank  affixed 
tlie  signature  to  his  own.  By  the  time  they  were  through  it  was  late  in 
the  evening,  and  the  hour  for  retiring  to  bed.  Their  sleeping-places  were 
exactly  such  as  they  might  have  found  in  any  American  hotel,  and  they 
longed  for  a  view  of  a  Japanese  bed.  Frank  was  inclined  to  ask  Doctor 
Bronson  to  describe  one  to  them,  but  Fred  thought  it  would  be  time 
enough  when  they  went  into  the  interior  of  the  country  and  saw  one. 

They  were  up  early  the  next  morning,  but  not  as  early  as  the  Jap- 
anese. 

"I  tell  you  what,"  said  Frank,  "I  have  made  a  discovery." 

"  What  is  it  ?" 

"  I  have  been  thinking  of  something  to  introduce  into  the  United 
States,  and  make  everybody  get  up  early  in  the  morning." 

"  Something  Japanese  ?" 

"Yes.     Something  that  interested  us  yesterday  when  we  saw  it." 

"  Well,  we  saw  so  many  things  that  I  couldn't  begin  to  guess  in  half 
an  hour.     What  was  it  ?" 

"  It  was  a  pillow." 


94  THE    BOY   TRAVIOLLKRS. 

"  You  mean.tliose  little  things  the  Japanese  sleep  on  ?" 

"  Yes ;  they  are  so  uncomfortable  that  we  couldn't  use  them  with  any 
Bort  of  pleasure.  Nobody  would  want  to  lie  in  bed  after  he  had  waked 
up,  if  he  had  such  a  pillow  under  his  head.  He  would  be  out  in  a  minute, 
and  wouldn't  think  of  turning  over  for  another  doze. 

"  Kow,  if  our  Congress  will  pass  a  law  abolishing  the  feather  pillow  all 
over  the  United  States,  and  commanding  everybody  to  sleep  on  the  Jap- 
anese one,  it  would  make  every  man,  woman,  and  child  get  up  at  least  an 
hour  earlier  every  day.  For  forty  millions  of  people  this  would  make  a 
gain  of  forty  million  hours  daih',  and  that  would  be  equal  to  forty-five 
thousand  3'ears.  Just  think  what  an  advantage  that  would  be  to  the 
country,  and  how  much  more  we  could  accomplish  than  we  do  now. 
Isn't  it  a  grand  idea  ?" 

Fred  thought  it  might  be  grand  and  profitable  to  the  country,  but  it 
would  be  necessary  to  make  the  pillows  for  the  people ;  and  from  what  he 
had  heard  of  Congress,  he  didn't  think  they  would  vote  away  the  public 
money  for  anything  of  the  sort.  Besides,  the  members  of  Congress  would 
not  wish  to  deprive  themselves  of  the  privilege  of  sleeping  on  feather  pil- 
lows, and  therefore  they  wouldn't  vote  away  their  liberties.  So  he  ad- 
vised Frank  to  study  Japan  a  little  longer  before  he  suggested  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Japanese  pillow  in  America. 

This  conversation  occurred  while  the  boj^s  were  in  front  of  the  hotel, 
and  waiting  for  the  Doctor,  whom  they  expected  every  moment.  When 
he  came,  the  three  went  out  for  a  stroll,  and  returned  in  good  season  for 
breakfast.  While  they  were  out  they  took  a  peep  into  a  Japanese  house, 
where  the  family  were  at  their  morning  meal,  and  thus  the  boj^s  had  an 
opportunity  of  comparing  their  own  ways  with  those  of  the  country  they 
were  in. 

A  dignified  native,  with  the  fore  part  of  his  head  closely  shaven,  was 
squatted  on  the  floor  in  front  of  a  little  box  about  a  foot  high,  which 
served  as  a  table.  Opposite  was  his  wife,  and  at  the  moment  our  party 
looked  in  she  was  engaged  in  pouring  something  from  a  bottle  into  a 
small  cup  the  size  of  a  thimble.  Directly  under  her  hand  was  a  bowl 
filled  with  freshly  boiled  rice, from  which  the  steam  wiis  slowly  rising;  and 
at  the  side  of  the  table  was  another  and  smaller  one,  holding  some  yilates 
and  chopsticks.  A  tiny  cup  and  a  bowl  constituted  the  rest  of  the  break- 
fast equipment.  The  master  was  waited  upon  by  his  wife,  who  was  not 
supposed  to  attend  to  her  own  wants  until  his  had  been  fully  met.  She 
sat  with  her  back  to  the  window,  which  was  covered  with  paper  in  small 
squares  pasted  to  the  frame,  and  at  her  right  was  a  screen,  such  as  one 


A   CUP   OF   SA-KEE. 


95 


A    JAPANESE   BREAKFAST. 


finds  in  nearly  all  Eastern  countries.  On  her  left  was  a  chest  of  drawers 
with  curious  locks  and  handles,  which  doubtless  contained  the  family 
wealth  of  linen. 

As  they  went  on,  after  their  view  of  a  Japanese  interior,  Frank  asked 
what  was  the  name  and  character  of  the  liquid  the  woman  was  pouring 
into  the  glass  or  cup  for  her  husband. 

"  That  was  probably  sa-kee,"  replied  the  Doctor. 

"  And  what  is  sa-kee,  please  ?" 

"  It  is,"  answered  the  Doctor,  "  a  sort  of  wine  distilled  from  rice. 
Foreigners  generally  call  it  rice  wine,  but,  more  properly  speaking,  it  is 
rice  whiskey,  as  it  partakes  more  of  the  nature  of  spirit  than  of  wine. 
It  is  very  strong,  and  will  intoxicate  if  taken  in  any  considerable  quantity. 
The  Japanese  usually  drink  it  hot,  and  take  it  from  the  little  cups  that 
you  saw.  The  cups  hold  so  small  a  quantity  that  a  great  many  fillings 
are  necessary  to  produce  any  unpleasant  effect.  The  Japanese  rarely  drink 
to  intoxication,  and,  on  the  whole,  they  are  a  very  temperate  people." 

Fred  thereupon  began  to  moralize  on  the  policy  of  introducing  Japan- 
ese customs  into  America.  He  thought  more  practicable  good  could  be 
done  by  the  adoption  of  the  Japanese  cup — which  would  teach  our  people 


96  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

to  drink  more  liglitly  than  at  present — than  by  Frank's  plan  of  introduc- 
ing the  Japanese  pillow,  lie  thought  there  would  be  some  drawbacks  to 
Frank's  enterprise,which  would  offset  the  good  it  could  do.  Thus  a  great 
number  of  people  whom  the  pillow  might  bring  up  at  an  early  hour 
would  spend  the  time  in  ways  that  would  not  be  any  benefit  to  society, 
and  they  might  as  well  be  asleep,  and  in  many  cases  better,  too.  But  the 
tiny  drinking-cup  would  moderate  the  quantity  of  stimulants  many  per- 
sons would  take,  and  thus  a  great  good  might  be  accoujplished. 

While  thus  talking,  and  trying  to  conjure  up  absurd  things,  they 
reached  the  hotel,  and  soon  were  seated  at  breakfast. 

During  breakfast  Doctor  Bronson  unfolded  some  of  the  plans  he  had 
made  for  the  disposal  of  their  time,  so  that  they  might  see  as  much  as 
possible  of  Japan. 

"We  have  taken  a  look  at  Yokohama  since  we  arrived,"  said  he,  "but 
there  is  still  a  great  deal  to  see.  We  can  study  the  place  at  our  leisure,  as 
I  think  it  best  to  make  this  our  headquarters  while  in  this  part  of  the 
empire,  and  then  we  will  make  excursions  from  here  to  the  points  of  in- 
terest in  the  vicinity.     To-day  we  will  go  to  Tokio." 

"  Can't  we  go  iirst  to  Yeddo  ?"  said  Fred  ;  "  I  want  so  much  to  see  that 
city,  and  it  is  said  to  be  very  large." 

Doctor  Bronson  laughed  slightly  as  he  replied, 

"  Tokio  and  Yeddo  are  one  and  the  same  thing.  Tokio  means  the  East- 
ern capital,  while  Yeddo  means  the  Great  City.  Both  names  have  long 
been  in  use ;  but  the  city  was  first  known  to  foreigners  as  Yeddo.  Hence 
it  was  called  so  in  all  the  books  that  were  written  prior  to  a  few  years 
ago,  when  it  was  officially  announced  to  be  Tokio.  It  was  considered  the 
capital  at  the  time  Japan  was  opened  to  foreigners ;  but  there  were  polit- 
ical complications  not  understood  by  the  strangers,  and  the  true  relations 
of  the  city  we  are  talking  about  and  kioto,  which  is  the  Western  capital, 
were  not  explained  until  some  time  after.  It  was  believed  that  there  were 
two  emperors  or  kings,  the  one  in  Yeddo  and  the  other  in  Kioto,  and  that 
the  one  here  was  highest  in  authority.  The  real  fact  was  that  the  Sho- 
goon,  or  Tycoon  (as  he  was  called  by  the  foreigners),  at  Yeddo  was  subor- 
dinate to  the  real  emperor  at  Kioto ;  and  the  action  of  the  former  led  to 
a  war  which  resulted  in  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  Tycoon,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Mikado's  authority  through  the  entire  country." 

"  Then  the  emperor  is  called  the  Mikado,  is  he  not  ?" 

"  Yes  ;  that  is  his  official  title.  Formerly  he  was  quite  secluded,  as  his 
person  was  considered  too  sacred  to  be  seen  by  ordinary  eyes ;  but  since 
the  rebellion  and  revolution  he  has  come  out  from  his  seclusion,  and  takes 


THE   JAPANESE    EMPEROli- 


97 


MUrSUHITO,  MIKADO    OF   JAPAN. 


part  in  public  ceremonials,  receives  visitors,  and  does  other  things  like  the 
monarchs  of  European  countries.  He  is  enlightened  and  progressive,  and 
is  doing  all  he  can  for  the  good  of  his  country  and  its  people. 

"  The  curious  feature  of  the  revolution  which  established  the  Mikado 
on  his  throne,  and  made  him  the  ruler  of  the  whole  country  is  this — that 

7 


98 


TIIK   BOY   TUAVELLEKS. 


the  inoveinent  was  undertaken  to  prevent  the  very  tilings  it  has  brought 
about/' 

"How  was  thatf  Frank  asked. 

"Down  to  1853  Japan  was  in  a  condition  of  exclnsiveness  in  regard  to 
otlier  nations.  There  was  a  Dutch  trading-post  at  Nagasaki,  on  tlie  west- 
ern coast;  but  it  was  confined  to  a  little  island,  about  six  hundred  feet 
square,  and  the  people  tliat  lived  there  were  nut  allowed  to  go  out  of  their 
enclosure  except  at  rare  intervals,  and  under  restrictions  that  amounted  to 
practical  imprisonment.  In  the  year  I  mentioned  Commodore  Perry  came 
here  with  a  fleet  of  American  ships,  left  some  presents  that  had  been  sent 


LANDIXG    OF   PERRY's    EXPEDITION. 


by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  sailed  away.  Before  he  left  he 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  present  commercial  intercourse  between  Japan 
and  the  United  States;  and  on  his  return  in  the  following  year  the  priv- 
ileges were  considerably  enlarged.  Then  came  the  English,  and  secured 
similar  concessions  ;  and  thus  Japan  has  reached  her  present  standing 
among  the  nations. 

"Having  been  exclusive  so  long,  and  having  been  compelled  against 
her  will  to  open  her  ports  to  strangers,  there  was  naturally  a  good  deal  of 
opposition  to  foreigners  even  after  the  treaty  was  signed.  The  govern- 
ment endeavored  to  carry  out  the  terras  of  the  treaty  faithfully  ;  but  there 


OVEUTHUOW  OF  THE  TYCOON'S  GOVERNMENT. 


99 


was  a  large  party  opposed  to  it,  and  anxious  to  have  the  treaties  torn  up 
and  the  foreigners  expelled.  This  party  was  so  powerful  that  it  seemed 
to  include  almost  a  majority  of  the  nation,  and  the  Kioto  government  took 
the  Yeddo  section  to  task  for  what  it  had  done  in  admitting  the  foreign- 
ers. One  thing  led  to  another,  and  tinally  came  the  war  hetween  the  Mi- 
kado and  the  Tycoon.  The  latter  was  overthrown,  as  I  have  already  told 
you,  and  the  Mikado  was  the  supreme  ruler  of  the  land. 

"  The  Mikado's  party  was  opposed  to  the  presence  of  foreigners  in  the 
country,  and  their  war-cry  was  'Death  to  the  strangers!'  When  the  war 
was  over,  there  was  a  general  expectation  that  measures  would  be  adopted 
looking  to  the  expulsion  of  the  hated  intruder.  But,  to  the  surprise  of 
many,  the  government  became  even  more  progressive  than  its  predecessor 
liad  been,  and  made  concessions  to  the  foreigners  that  the  others  had  never 
granted.  It  was  a  curious  spectacle  to  see  the  conservative  government 
doing  more  for  the  introduction  of  the  foreigner  than  the  very  men  they 
had  put  down  because  of  their  making  a  treaty  with  the  Americans. 

"  The  opponents  of  the  Mikado's  government  accuse  it  of  acting  in  bad 
faith,  but  I  do  not  see  that  the  charge  is  just.  As  I  understand  the  sit- 
uation, the  government  acted 
honestly,  and  with  good  intent 
to  expel  the  foreigner  in  case 
it  should  obtain  power.  But 
when  the  power  was  obtained, 
tliey  found  the,  foreigner  could 
not  be  expelled  so  easily;  he 
was  here,  and  intended  to  re- 
main, and  the  only  thing  the 
government  could  do  was  to 
make  the  best  of  it.  The  for- 
eign nations  who  had  treaties 
with  Japan  would  not  tear  them 
up,  and  tlie  government  found 
that  what  it  had  intended  at  the 
time  of  the  revolution  could  not 
be  accomplished.  Foreign  in- 
tercourse went  on,  and  the  Jap- 
anese began  to  instruct  them- 
selves in  Western  ways.  They 
sent  tlieir  young  men  to  Amer- 
ica and  other  countries  to  be 


THE    LAST    SHOGOON    OF    JAl'AX. 


100 


Tllli   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


educated.  They  hired  teachers  to  take  charge  of  schools  in  Japan,  and 
in  every  way  tried  to  turn  the  presence  of  the  foreigner  to  their  advan- 
tage. There  is  an  old  adage  that  wllat  can't  he  cured  must  be  endured, 
and  Japan  seems  to  have  acted  upon  it.  The  foreigner  was  here  as  an 
evil,  and  they  couldn't  cure  him  out.  So  they  set  about  finding  the  best 
way  of  enduring  him. 

"But  it  is  time  we  were  getting  ready  for  a  start  for  Tokio,  and  so 
we'll  suspend  our  discussion  of  Japanese  political  history.  It's  a  dry  sub- 
ject, and  I  hesitate  to  talk  to  you  about  it  lest  I  may  weary  you." 

Both  the  boys  declared  the  topic  was  interesting,  and  they  would  con- 
sider their  study  of  Japan  incomplete  without  some  of  its  history.  The 
Doctor  promised  to  return  to  the  subject  at  some  future  occasion;  and 
with  this  understanding  they  separated  to  prepare  for  their  journey  to 
the  capital. 


THE   RAILWAY  IN  JAPAN.  101 


CHAPTER  VIL 

FROM  YOKOHAMA   TO  TOKIO. 

ONE  of  the  innovations  in  Japan  since  the  arrival  of  the  foreigners  is 
tlie  railway.  Among  the  presents  carried  to  the  country  by  Commo- 
dore Perry  were  a  miniature  locomotive  and  some  cars,  and  several  miles 
of  railway  track.  The  track  was  set  up,  and  tlie  new  toy  was  regarded 
with  much  interest  by  tlie  Japanese.  For  some  years  after  the  country 
was  opened  there  was  considerable  opposition  to  the  introduction  of  the 
new  mode  of  travel,  but  by  degrees  all  hostility  vanished,  and  the  govern- 
ment entered  into  contracts  for  the  construction  of  a  line  from  Yoko- 
hama to  Tokio.  The  distance  is  about  seventeen  miles,  and  the  route  fol- 
lows the  shore  of  the  bav,  where  there  are  no  engineering  difficulties  of 
consequence.  In  spite  of  the  ease  of  construction  and  the  low  price  of 
labor  in  Japan,  the  cost  of  the  work  was  very  great,  and  would  have 
astonished  a  railway  engineer  in  America.  The  work  was  done  under 
English  supervision  and  by  English  contractors,  and  from  all  accounts 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  lost  anything  by  the  oi3eration. 

Doctor  Bronson  and  our  young  friends  went  from  Yokohama  to  the 
capital  by  the  railway,  and  found  the  ride  a  pleasant  one  of  about  an 
hour's  duration.  They  found  that  the  conductors,  ticket -sellers,  brake- 
men,  and  all  others  with  whom  they  came  in  contact  were  Japanese.  For 
some  time  after  the  line  was  opened  the  management  was  in  the  hands  of 
foreigners;  but  by  degrees  they  were  removed,  and  the  Japanese  took 
charge  of  the  business,  for  which  they  had  paid  a  liberal  price.  They 
have  shown  themselves  fully  competent  to  manage  it,  and  the  new  system 
of  travel  is  quite  popular  wkh  the  people.  Three  kinds  of  carriages  are 
run  on  most  of  the  trains;  the  first  class  is  patronized  by  the  high  officials 
and  the  foreigners  who  have  plenty  of  money ;  the  second  by  the  middle- 
class  natives — official  and  otherwise — and  foreigners  whose  purses  are  not 
plethoric ;  and  the  third  class  by  the  peasantry,  and  common  people  gen- 
erally. Frank  observed  that  there  were  few  passengers  in  the  first-class 
carriages,  more  in  the  second,  and  that  the  third  class  attracted  a  crowd, 


102 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLEIiS. 


TlUUlJ-ClvASS    PASSENGERS. 


and  was  evidently  popular.  Tlie  Doctor  told  him  that  the  railway  had 
been  well  patronized  since  the  day  it  was  first  opened,  and  that  the  facili- 
ties of  steam  locomotion  have  not  been  confined  to  the  eastern  end  of  the 
empire.  The  experiment  on  the  shores  of  Yeddo  Bay  proved  so  satis- 
factory that  a  line  has  since  been  opened  from  Kobe  to  Osaka  and  Kioto, 
in  the  West — a  distance  of  a  little  more  than  fifty  miles.  The  people 
take  to  it  as  kindly  as  did  those  of  the  East,  and  the  third-class  carriages 
are  generally  well  filled. 

At  the  station  in  Yokohama  the  boys  found  a  news-stand,  the  same  as 
they  might  find  one  in  a  station  in  America,  but  with  the  difference 
against  them  that  they  were  unable  to  read  the  papers  that  were  sold 
there.  They  bought  some,  however,  to  send-  home  as  curiosities,  and 
found  them  very  cheap.  Newspapers  existed  in  Japan  before  the  for- 
eigners went  there ;  but  since  the  advent  of  the  latter  the  number  of  pub- 
lications has  increased,  as  the  Japanbse  can  hardly  fail  to  observe  the  great 
influence  on  public  opinion  which  is  exercised  by  the  daily  press.  They 
have  introduced  metal  types  after  the  foreign  system,  instead  of  printing 
from  wooden  blocks,  as  they  formerly  did,  and,  but  for  the  difference  in 
the  character,  one  of  their  sheets  might  be  taken  for  a  paper  printed  in 
Europe  or  America.  Some  of  the  papers  have  large  circulations,  and  the 
newsboys  sell  them  in  the  streets,  in  the  same  way  as  the  urchins  of  New 


VIEWS   rilOM   THE    CAR   WINDOWS. 


103 


York  engage  in  the  kindred  business.  There  is  this  difference,  however, 
that  the  Japanese  newsboys  are  generally  men,  and  as  they  walk  along 
they  read  in  a  monotonous  tone  the  news  which  the  paper  they  are  selling 
contains. 

The  train  started  promptly  on  the  advertised  time,  and  the  boys  found 
that  there  were  half  a  dozen  trains  each  way  daily,  some  of  them  running 
through,  like  express  trains  in  other  countries,  while  others  were  slower, 
and  halted  at  every  station.  The  line  ran  through  a  succession  of  fields 
and  villages,  the  former  bearing  evidence  of  careful  cultivation,  while  the 
latter  were  thickly  populated,  and  gave  indications  of  a  good  deal  of  taste 
in  their  arrangement.  Shade-trees  were  numerous,  and  Frank  readily 
accepted  as  correct  the  statement  he  had  somewhere  read,  that  a  Japanese 
would  rather  move  liis  house  than  cut  down  a  tree  in  case  the  one  inter- 
fered with  the  other.  The  rice  harvest  was  nearly  at  hand,  and  the  fields 
were  thickly  burdened  witli  the  waving  rice-plants.  Men  were  working 
in  the  fields,  and  moving  slowly  to  and  fro,  and  everywhere  there  was  an 
activity  that  did  not  betoken  a  lazy  people.  The  Doctor  explained  tliat  if 
they  had  been  there  a  month  earlier,  they  would  have  witnessed  the  proc- 
ess of  hoeing  the  rice-plants  to  keep  down  the  weeds,  but  that  now  the 
hoeing  was  over,  and  there  was  little  to  do  beyond  keeping  the  fields 
properly  flooded  with  M-ater,  so  that  the  ripening  plants  should  have  the 


JAl'ANESK    PLOUGHING. 


104 


TilK   BOY   TRAVr.LLEUS. 


necessary  nourislunent.  He  pointed  out  an  irrigating-niaehine,  which  was 
in  operation  close  to  the  railway,  and  the  boys  looked  at  it  with  much 
interest.  A  wheel  was  so  fixed  in  a  small  trough  that  when  it  was  turned 
the  water  was  raised  from  a  little  pool,  and  flowed  over  the  land  it  was 
desirable  to  irrigate.  Tiie  turning  process  was  performed  by  a  man  who 
stood  above  the  wheel,  and  stepped  from  one  float  to  another.  The 
machinery  M'as  very  simple,  and  had  the  merit  of  cheapness,  as  its  cost 
could  not  have  been  large  at  the  price  of  labor  in  Japan. 

In  another  place  a  man  was  engaged  in  ploughing.  lie  had  a  primi- 
tive-looking instrument  with  a  blade  like  that 
of  a  large  hatchet,  a  beam  set  at  right  angles, 
and  a  single  handle  whicli  he  grasped  with  both 
hands.  It  was  propelled  by  a  horse  which  re- 
quired some  one  to  lead  him,  but  he  did  not 
seem  to  regard  the  labor  of  dragging  the 
plough  as  anything  serious,  as  he  walked  off 
very  much  as  though  nothing  were  behind  him. 
Just  beyond  the  ploughman  there  was  a  man 
with  a  roller,  engaged  in  covering  some  seed 
that  had  been  put  in  for  a  late  crop.  He  was 
using  a  common  roller,  which  closely  reseiribled 
the  one  we  employ  for  smoothing  our  garden  walks  and  beds,  with  the 
exception  that  it  was  rougher  in  construction,  and  did  not  appear  as  round 
as  one  naturally  expects  a  roller  to  be. 


JAl'ANKSK    ROLLER. 


M  A  -N  L  U 1 N  G    PROC  ESS. 


FARMING   PKOCESSES   IN   JAPAN. 


105 


Fred  saw  a  man  dipping  something  from  a  hole  in  the  ground,  and 
asked  the  Doctor  what  he  was  doing. 

The  Doctor  explained  tliat 
tlie  hole  was  a  cask  set  in  the 
ground,  and  that  it  probably 
contained  liquid  manure.  The 
Japanese  use  it  for  enriching 
their  fields.  They  keep  it  in 
these  holes,  covered  with  a 
slight  roof  to  prevent  its  evap- 
oration as  much  as  possible, 
and  they  spread  it  around 
where  wanted  by  means  of 
buckets.  The  great  drawback 
to  a  walk  in  a  Japanese  field  is 
the  frequency  of  the  manure 
deposits,  as  the  odor  arisitig 
from  them  is  an3'thing  but 
agreeable.  Particularly  is  this 
so  in  the  early  part  of  the  sea- 
son, when  the  young  plants  re- 
quire a  great  deal  of  attention 
and  nourishment.  A  nose  at  such  times  is  an  organ  of  great  inconven- 
ience. 

The  Doctor  went  on  to  explain  that  the  Japanese  farmers  were  very 
watchful  of  their  crops,  and  that  men  were  employed  to  scare  away  the 
birds,  tliat  sometimes  dug  up  the  seed  after  it  was  planted,  and  also  ate 
the  groin  while  it  was  ripening.  The  watchmen  had  pieces  of  board 
wdiich  they  put  on  frames  suspended  in  the  air,  and  so  arranged  that  they 
rattled  in  the  wind,  and  jjerformed  a  service  similar  to  that  of  the"scare- 
crow  in  America.  In  addition  to  this  mode  of  making  a  noise,  the  watch- 
men had  whistles  and  clappers,  and  sometimes  they  carried  small  bells 
M'hich  they  rang  as  they  walked  about.  It  was  the  duty  of  a  watchman 
to  keep  constanth^  on  the  alert,  as  the  birds  were  full  of  mischief,  and, 
from  being  rarely  shot  at,  their  boldness  and  impudence  were  quite  aston- 
ishing to  one  freshly  arrived  from  America,  where  the  use  of  fire-arms  is 
so  general. 

While  Doctor  Bronson  was  explaining  about  the  birds,  Fred  suddenly 
gave  an  exclamation  of  delight. 

"  Look,  look !"  said  he ;  "  what  are  those  beautiful  white  birds  ?" 


HOW   THEY    U8K    MANURE. 


106 


TIIK   BOY   TRAVKLLKRS. 


IlUUl::    OF    fUUTkCTlNU    LAND    FUUM    BIliDS. 


"  Oh,  I  know,"  answered  Frank ;  "  the}'  are  storks.     I  recognize  tliem 

from  the  pictures  I  have  seen  on 
fans  and  screens.  I'm  sure  they 
are  storks." 

The  decision  was  appealed 
to  Doctor  Bronson,  who  decided 
that  the  birds  in  question  were 
storks,  and  nothing  else.  There 
was  no  mistaking  their  beautiful 
figures;  whether  standing  in  tlic 
fields  or  flying  in  the  air,  the 
stork  is  one  of  the  handsomest 
birds  known  to  the  ornithologist. 

"  You  see,"  said  Doctor  Bron- 
son, "  that  the  stork  justifies  the 
liomage  that  is  paid  to  him  so  far 
as  a  graceful  figure  is  concerned, 
and  the  Japanese  have  shown  an 
eye  for  beauty  wlien  they '  se- 
lected hitn  for  a  prominent  place 
in  tlieir  pictures.  You  see  him 
sToKKs,  oKAwx  Bv  A  NATIVE  AKTisT.  evcrywlicre   lu  Japauesc  art — 


SKILL  OF   JAPANESE   ARTISTS. 


107 


in  bronzes,  on  costly  paintings,  embroidered  on  silk,  printed  on  fans,  and 
on  nearly  every  article  of  lionsehold  use.  He  has  a  sacred  character,  and 
it  wonld  not  be  easy  to  find  a  Japanese  who  would  willingly  inflict  an 
injury  upon  one  of  these  birds." 

There  are  probably  no  other  artists  in  the  world  who  can  equal  the 
Japanese  in  drawing  the  stork  in  all  the  ways  and  attitudes  he  assumes. 
These  are  almost  countless ;  but,  not  satisfied  with  this,  there  are  some  of 
the  native  artists  who  are  accused  of  representing  him  in  attitudes  he  was 
never  knoMm  to  take.  Admitting  this  to  be  the  case,  it  cannot  be  disputed 
that  the  Japanese  are  masters  of  their  profession  in  delineating  this  bird, 
and  that  one  is  never  weary  of  looking  at  his  portrait  as  they  draw  it. 
They  have  nearly  equal  skill  in  drawing  other  birds,  and  a  few  strokes 
of  the  brush  or  pencil  will  accomplish  marvels  in  the  way  of  pictorial 
representation.  A  flock  of  geese,  some  on  the  ground  and  others  in 
flight,  can  be  drawn  in  a  few  moments  by  a  native  designer,  and  the 
most  exacting  critic  will  not  find  anything  wanting. 


FLOCK    OF    GEKSE. 


The  train  sped  onward,  and  in  an  hour  from  the  time  of  leaving  the 
station  at  Yokohama  it  w&s  nearing  Tokio.  It  passed  in  full  view  of  the 
forts  of  Shinagawa,  which  were  made  memorable  during  the  days  of  Perry 
and  Lord  Elgin,  as  the  foreign  ships  were  not  allowed  to  pass  them,  and 


108 


THE   BOY  TKAVELLERS. 


SHINAGAWA. 


109 


there  was  at  one  time  a  prospect  that  they  would  open  fire  upon  the  in- 
truders. Xear  one  of  the  forts,  a  boat  containing  three  fishermen  was  pull- 
ing slowly  along,  one  man  handling  the  oar,  while  the  other  two  were  lift- 
ing a  net.  Whether  any  fish  were  contained  in  it  the  boys  did  not  ascertain, 
as  the  train  would  not  stop  long  enough  to  permit  an  investigation.  The 
fort  rose  from  the  water  like  a  huge  wa^'ehouse ;  it  might  resist  a  Chinese 
junk,  or  a  whole  fleet  of  the  rude  craft  of  the  East,  but  could  not  hold  out 
an  hour  against  the  artillery  of  the  Western  nations.  In  recent  years  the 
forts  of  Tokio  have  been  strengthened,  but  they  are  yet  far  from  what  an 
American  or  English  admiral  would  hold  in  high  respect.  The  Japanese 
have  made  commendable  progress  in  army  organization  ;  but,  so  far  as  one 
can  learn  generally,  they  have  not  done  much  in  the  way  of  constructing 
and  manning  fortifications. 

On  their  arrival  in  Tokio,  our  young  friends  looked  around  to  discover 
in  what  the  city  differed  from  Yokohama.  They  saw  the  same  kind  of 
people  at  the  station  that  they  had  left  in  Yokohama,  and  heard  pretty 
nearly  the  sauie  sounds.  Porters,  and  others  who  hoped  to  serve  them 
and  thereby  earn  something,  gathered  around  ;  and  they  found  in  the  open 


A    JIX-UIKI-SHA. 


110  THE    BUY   THAVELLKUS. 

space  in  front  of  tlie  station  a  liberal  number  of  conveyances  ready  to 
take  them  wherever  they  wanted  to  go.  There  were  cariiages  and  jin- 
riki-shas  from  which  they  could  choose,  and  it  did  not  take  them  long  to 
decide  in  favor  of  the  jin-riki-sha.  It  was  a  novelt}^  to  them,  though  not 
altogether  so,  as  they  had  seen  it  in  Yokohama,  and  had  tried  its  qualities 
in  their  journey  from  the  hotel  t(j  the  station  in  the  morning. 

"  What  is  the  jin-riki-sha  ?"  the  reader  naturally  asks. 

Its  name  comes  from  three  words,  "  jin,"  meaning  man  •;  "  riki,"  power; 
and  "  sha,"  carriage  :  altogether  it  amounts  to  "  man-power-carriage."  It 
is  a  little  vehicle  like  an  exaggerated  baby-cart  or  diminutive  one-horse 
chaise,  and  has  conjfortable  seating  capacity  for  only  one  person,  though  it 
will  hold  two  if  they  are  not  too  large.  It  was  introduced  into  Japan  in 
1870,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  invention  of  an  American.  At  all 
events,  the  iirst  of  them  came  from  San  Francisco;  but  the  Japanese  soon 
set  about  making  them,  and  now  there  are  none  imported.  It  is  said  that 
there  are  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  of  them  in  use,  and,  judging  by  the 
abundance  of  them  everywhere,  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  the  estimate  is 
not  too  high.  The  streets  are  full  of  them,  and,  no  matter  where  you  go, 
you  are  rarely  at  a  loss  to  Und  one.  As  their  name  indicates,  they  are  car- 
riages drawn  by  men.  For  a  short  distance,  or  where  it  is  not  required  to 
keep  up  a  high  speed,  one  man  is  sufficient ;  but  otherwise  two,  or  even 
three,  men  are  needed.  They  go  at  a  good  trot,  except  when  ascending  a 
hill  or  where  the  roads  are  bad.  They  easily  niake  four  and  a  half  or  five 
miles  an  hour,  and  in  emergencies  can  do  better  than  the  last-named  rate. 

Frank  and  Fred  were  of  opinion  that  the  jin-riki-sha  would  be  a  slow 
vehicle  to  travel  in,  but  asked  the  Doctor  for  his  experience  of  one  in  his 
previous  visit  to  the  countr}'. 

"  On  my  first  visit  to  Japan,"  replied  Doctor  Bi'onson,  "  this  little  car- 
riage was  not  in  use.  We  went  around  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  or  in  no- 
rimons  and  cangos." 

"And  what  are  norimons  ajid  cangos?" 

"  They  are  the  vehicles  in  which  the  Japanese  used  to  travel,  and  which 
are  still  much  employed  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  We  shall  see 
them  before  long,  and  then  we  shall  have  an  excellent  opportunity  to  know 
what  they  are.  We  shall  probably  be  travelling  in  them  in  a  few  days, 
and  I  will  then  have  your  opinion  concerning  them. 

"As  to  the  jin-riki-sha,"  he  continued,  "my  experience  with  it  in  my 
last  visit  to  Japan  since  its  introduction  gives  me  a  high  opinion  of  the 
Japanese  power  of  endurance.  A  few  days  after  my  arrival,  1  had. occasion 
to  go  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles  on  the  great  road  along  the  coast, 


TUAVELLING   BY  JIN-RIKI-SUA. 


Ill 


from  Yokohama  to  Odiwara.  I  had  three  men  to  draw  the  carriage,  and 
the  journey  was  made  in  twelve  hours,  with  three  halts  of  lifteen  minutes 
each.  You  could  not  have  done  better  than  this  with  a  horse  and  carriage 
in  place  of  the  man-power  vehicle.  On  another  occasion  I  went  from 
Osaka  to  Nara,  a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  between  ten  in  the  morning  and 
five  in  the  afternooi"i,  and  halted  an  hour  for  lunch  at  a  Japanese  inn  on 
the  road.  Part  of  the  way  the  road  was  through  fields,  where  it  was  nec- 
essary to  go  slowly,  and  quite  frequently  the  men  were  obliged  to  lift  the 
vehicle  over  water-courses  and  gullies,  and  a  good  deal  of  time  was  lost  by 
these  detentions." 

Both  the  boys  declared  that  the  travel  under  such  circumstances  was 
excellent,  and  that  it  was  fully  up  to  what  the  average  horse  could  accom- 
plish in  America. 


JAPAXICSL    ON    FOOT. 


"  The  next  day,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  I  went  on  from  Xara  to  Kioto, 
which  was  another  thirty  miles,  in  about  the  same  time  and  with  a  similar 
lialt  for  dinner.  I  had  the  same  men  as  on  the  day  before,  and  they  raced 
merrily  along  without  the  least  sign  of  fatigue,  although  there  was  a  pour- 
ing rain  all  day  that  made  the  roads  very  heavy.  Frequently  there  were 
steep  little  hills  to  ascend  where  the  road  passed  over  the  water-courses  or 
canals.  You  will  find,  as  you  travel  in  Japan,  that  the  canals  are  above 
the  general  level  of  the  countiy,  in  order  to  affoi'd  the  proper  fall  for  irri- 
gation. Where  the  road  crosses  one  of  these  canals,  there  is  a  sharp  rise 
on  one  side,  and  an  equally  sharp  descent  on  the  other.  You  can  manage 
the  descent,  but  the  rise  is  difticult.  In  the  present  instance  the  rain  had 
softened  the  road,  and  made  tlie  pulling  very  hard  indeed ;  and,  to  add  to 
the  trouble,  I  had  injured  my  foot  and  was  unable  to  walk,  so  that  I  could 
not  lighten  the  burden  of  the  men  by  getting  out  of  the  carriage  at  the 
bad  places. 


112 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


"  I  was  able  on  this  journey,  and  partly  in  consequence  of  my  lame- 
ness, to  have  an  opportunity  to  see  the  great  kindness  of  the  Japanese  to 
each  other.  I  liad  my  servant  with  me  (a  Japanese  boy  who  spoke  Eng- 
lish), and  he  was  in  a  jin-riki-sha  with  two  men  to  pull  it,  the  same  as 
mine.  When  we  came  to  a  bad  spot  in  the  road,  the  men  with  his  carriage 
dropped  it  and  came  to  the  aid  of  mine;  and  as  soon  as  they  had  brought 
it  through  its  troubles,  the  whole  four  went  back  to  bring  up  the  other.  I 
did  not  hear  a  single  expression  of  anger  during  the  whole  day,  but  every- 
thing was  done  with  the  utmost  good-nature.  In  some  other  countries  it 
is  quite  possible  that  the  men  with  the  lighter  burden  would  adhere  to  the 
principle  that  everybody  should  look  out  for  himself,  and  decline  to  as- 
sist unless  paid  extra  for  their  trouble. 

"  You  will  find,  the  more  you  know  the  Japanese,  that  they  canuot  be 
excelled  in  their  kindnesses  to  each  other.  They  have  great  reverence  and 
respect  for  their  parents;  and  their  affection  for  brothers  and  sisters,  cous- 
ins, aunts,  and  all  relatives,  is  worthy  of  admiration.  If  you  inquire  into 
the  circumstances  of  the  laboring-men,  whose  daily  earnings  are  very  small, 
and  with  whom  life  is  a  most  earnest  struggle,  you  will  find  that  nearly 
every  one  of  them  is  supporting  somebody  besides  himself,  and  that  many 

of  their  families  are  in- 
/  conveniently  large.     Yet 

\\  they  accept  all  their  bur- 
dens cheerfully,  and  are 
always  smiling,  and  ap- 
parently happy.  Whether 
they  are  reallj'  so  has 
been  doubted  ;  but  I  see 
no  good  reason  to  call 
theircheerfulnessin  ques- 
tion. 

"  But  I  will  tell  you  a 
still  more  remarkable  sto- 
ry of  the  endurance  of 
these  Japanese  runners. 
While  I  was  at  Kioto,  an 
English  clergyman  came 
there  with  his  wife ;  and 
after  they  had  seen  the 
city,  they  were  very  anx- 
ious to  go  to  Xara.    They 


AN    1::\PK1::SS    KUNNUB. 


TRAITS   OF  JAPANESE   CUARACTEU. 


113 


had  only  a  day  to  spare,  as  they  were  obliged  to  be  at  Kobe  at  a  certain 
date  to  meet  the  steamer  for  Shanghai.  They  made  arrangements  to  be 
taken  to  Nara  and  back  in  that  time — a  distance,  going  and  coming,  of 
sixty  miles.  They  had  three  men  to  each  jin-riki-slia,  and  they  kept  the 
same  men  through  the  entire  trip.  They  left  the  hotel  at  Kioto  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  were  back  again  at  half-past  eight  in  the 
evening.  You  couldn't  do  better  than  this  with  a  horse,  unless  he  were 
an  exceptionally  good  one." 

Frank  thought  that  he  should  not  enjoy  the  jin-riki-sha,  as  he  would 
be  constantly  thinking  of  the  poor  fellows  who  were  pulling  him,  and  of 
how  much  they  were  suffering  on  his  account.  He  could  not  bear  to  see 
them  tugging  away  and  perspiring  while  he  was  reclining  in  a  comfortable 
seat. 

"I  readily  understand  you,"  Doctor  Bronson  answered,  "as  I  had 
the  same  feeling  myself,  and  every  American  has  it  when  he  first  comes 
to  the  country.  He  has  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  for  the  men,  and 
I  hav^e  known  some  strangers  to  refuse  to  ride  in  a  jin-riki-sha  on  that 
account.  But  if  you  M'ill  apply  reason  to  the  matter,  you  will  soon  get 
.over  tlie  feeling.  Heraember  that  the  man  gets  his  living  by  pulling  his 
little  carriage,  and  that  he  regards  it  as  a  great  favor  when  you  patron- 
ize him.  You  do  him  a  kindness  when  you  employ  him;  and  the  more 
you  employ  him,  the  more  will  he  regard  you  as  his  friend.  He  was 
born  to  toil,  and  expects  to  toil  as  long  as  he  lives.  He  does  not  regard 
it  as  a  hardship,  bnt  cheerfully  accepts  his 
lot ;  and  the  more  work  he  obtains,  the 
better  is  he  satisfied.  And  when  you  pay 
him  for  his  services,  you  will  win  his  most 
heart- felt  affection  if  you  add  a  trifle  by 
way  of  gratuity.  If  you  give  only  the  ex- 
act wages  prescribed  by  law,  he  does  not 
complain,  and  you  have  only  to  add  a  few 
cents  to  make  his  eyes  glisten  with  grat- 
itude. In  my  experience  of  laboring-men 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  I  have  found  that 
the  Japanese  coolie  is  the  most  patient, 
and  has  the  warmest  heart,  the  most  thank- 
ful for  honest  pay  for  honest  work,  and 
the  most  appreciative  of  the  trifles  that 
his  employer  gives  him  in  the  way  of 
presents." 

8 


A    JAPANESE    COOLIE. 


114 


THE   BOY   TKxVVELLEKS. 


When  the  Doctor  had  finished  liis  eulogy  upon  the  Japanese,  the  boys 
clapped  their  hands,  and  were  evidently  touched  with  his  enthusiasm. 
From  the  little  they  had  seen  since  their  arrival  in  the  country,  they  coin- 
cided with  him  in  opinion,  and  were  ready  to  endorse  what  he  said.  And 
if  they  had  been  in  any  doubt,  they  had  only  to  refer  to  the  great  majority 
of  foreigners  who  reside  in  Japan  for  the  coniirmation  of  what  the  Doctor 
had  declared.  Testimony  in  this  matter  is  as  nearly  unanimous  as  it  is 
generally  possible  to  find  it  on  any  subject,  and  some  of  the  foreign  resi- 
dents are  ready  to  go  much  further  in  their  laudations  of  the  kindly  spirit 
of  the  natives  than  did  Doctor  Bronson. 


I'lTV     K)K     lili;    BLIND. 


THE  EXTENT  OF  TOKIO. 


115 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

SIGHTS  IN   THE   EASTERN   CAPITAL   OF   JAPAN. 

^1^0  see  the  whole  of  Tokio  is  a  matter  of  no  small  moment,  as  the  area 
J-  of  the  city  is  very  great.  There  seems  to  have  been  no  stint  of 
ground  when  the  place  was  laid  out,  and  in  riding  through  it  you  find 
whole  fields  and  gardens  so  widely  spread  that  you  can  readily  imagine 
yourself  to  be  in  the  rural  districts,  and  are  rather  surprised  when  told 
that  you  are  yet  in  the  city  limits.  The  city  is  divided  into  two  unequal 
portions  by  the  Sumida  River,  and  over  this  river  is  the  Nihon  Bashi,  or 


VI KW    OF   TOKIO,  FROM   THE    SOUTH. 

Nihon  Bridge,  which  is  often  called  the  centre  of  Japan,  for  the  reason 
that  all  the  roads  were  formerly  measured  from  it.  It  has  the  same  rela- 
tion to  Japan  as  the  famous  "London  Stone"  has  to  England,  or,  rather, 
as  the  London  Stone  had  a  hundred  years  ago. 

From  the  railway  station  our  travellers  went  to  the  Xihon  Bashi,  in 
order  to  begin  their  journey  from  the  centre  of  the  empire.     A  more 


116 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


practical  reason  was  a  desire  to  see  tlie  river,  and  the  great  street  leading 
to  it,  as  they  would  get  a  good  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  city  by  taking 
tliis  route,  and  would  obtain  numerous  glimpses  of  Japanese  street  life. 
They  found  the  streets  full  of  people,  and  it  seemed  to  the  boys  that  the 
whole  population  must  be  out  for  an  airing.  But  the  Doctor  informed 
them  that  the  sight  they  were  witnessing  was  an  every-day  affair,  as  the 
Japanese  were  essentially  an  outdoor  people,  and  that  many  of  the  indus- 
tries which  in  other  countries  would  be  conducted  under  a  roof  were  here 

seen  in  progress  out  of  doors.  The  fronts 
of  the  Japanese  houses  are  quite  open  to 
the  view  of  the  public,  ar.d  there  is  hard- 
ly anything  of  what  we  call  privacy.  It 
was  formerly  no  uncommon  sight  to  see 
people  bathing  in  tubs  placed  in  front  of 
their  door-steps ;  and  even  at  the  present 
time  one  has  only  to  go  into  the  villages, 
or  away  from  the  usual  haunts  of  foreign- 
ers, to  see  that  spectacle  which  would  be 
unknown  in  the  United  States.  The  bath- 
houses are  now  closed  in  front  in  all  the 
cities,  but  i-emaih  pretty  much  as  before 
in  the  smaller  towns.  Year  by  year  the 
country  is  adopting  "Western  ideas,  and 
coming  to  understand  the  Western  views 
of  propriety. 

As  the  boys  rode  along,  their  atten- 
tion was  drawn  to  some  tall  ladders  that 
rose  above  the  buildings,  and  they  eager- 
ly asked  the  Doctor  what  those  ladders 
were  for.  They  could  not  see  the  use  of  climbing  up  in  the  air  and  then 
coming  down  again  ;  and,  altogether,  the  things  were  a  mystery  to  them. 
A  few  words  explained  the  matter.  The  ladders  were  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  fire-lookouts,  and  were  elevated  above  the  buildings  so  that  the 
watchmen  could  have  an  unobstructed  view.  A  bell  was  attached  to 
each  ladder,  and  by  means  of  it  a  warning-signal  was  given  in  case  of  a 
threatened  conflagration.  Fires  are  frequent  in  Tokio,  and  some  of  them 
have  done  immense  damage.  The  city  is  mostly  built  of  wood  ;  and  when 
a  tire  breaks  out  and  a  high  wind  is  blowing,  the  result  is  often  disastrous 
to  an  enormous  extent. 

After  the  great  fires  of  the  last  twenty  years,  the  burned  districts  have 


JAPANESE  LADY  COMING  FKUM  THE  BATH. 


THE   JAPANESE   LOTOS   FLOWER. 


117 


FIRli-LOOKOUTS    IN   TOKIO. 


been  rebuilt  of  stone,  or  largely  so ; 
and  precautions  that  were  liitlierto 
unknown  are  now  taken  for  the  pre- 
vention of  fresh  disasters.  Some  of 
the  new  quarters  are  quite  substan- 
tial, but  they  resemble  too  strongly 
the  edifices  of  a  city  in  Europe  to  be 
characteristic  of  Japan. 

A  portion  of  the  way  took  our 
friends  through  the  grounds  of  some 
of  the  castles,  and  the  boys  were  rath- 
er astonished  at  the  extent  of  these 
residences  of  princes.  Doctor  Bron- 
son  explained  that  Tokio  was  former- 
ly a  city  of  princes,  and  that  the  resi- 
dences of  the  Dairaios,  as  these  great 
men  were  called,  were  of  more  con- 
sequence at  one  time  than  all  the  rest 
of  the  city.  The  palace  of  a  Daimio 
was  known  as  a  yashiki,  and  the 
yashikis  were  capable,  in  some  instances,  of  lodging  five  or  ten  thousand 
men.  Under  the  present  government  the  power  of  the  princes  has  been 
taken  away,  and  their  troops  of  retainers  have  been  disbanded.  The  gov- 
ernment has  converted  the  most  of  the  yashikis  into  ofiices  and  barracks 
and  schools,  and  one  at  least  has  been  turned  into  a  manufactory. 

The  original  plan  of  Tokio  was  that  of  a  vast  camp,  and  from  that  the 
city  grew  into  its  present  condition.  The  best  locations  were  occupied  by 
the  castles  and  yashikis,  and  the  principal  castle  in  the  centre  has  the  best 
place  of  all.  Frank  observed  as  they  crossed  the  bridge  leading  into  the 
castle-yard  that  the  broad  moat  was  full  of  lotos  fiowers  in  full  bloom, 
and  he  longed  to  gather  some  of  them  so  that  he  might  send  them  home  as 
a  souvenir  of  the  country.  He  had  heard  of  the  lotos  as  a  sort  of  water- 
lily,  similar  in  general  appearance  to  the  pond-lily  of  his  native  land.  He 
was  surprised  to  find  a  flower,  eight  or  ten  inches  in  diameter,  growing 
on  a  strong  stalk  that  did  not  float  on  the  water,  but  held  itself  erect  and 
far  above  it.  The  Doctor  explained  the  matter  by  telling  him  that  the 
Japanese  lotos  is  unlike  the  Egyptian  lotos,  from  which  our  ideas  of  that 
flower  are  derived.  But  the  Japanese  one  is  highly  prized  by  the  peo- 
ple of  all  ranks  and  classes,  and  it  grows  in  abundance  in  all  the  castle- 
moats,  and  in  marshy  ground  generally. 


118 


Till-:    BOY   TKAVELLEliS. 


TOO    MUCH    8A-KEE. 


Near  tlie  entrance  of  one  of  tlie  castle -yards  they  met  a  couple 
that  attracted  their  attention.      It  was  a  respectable -appearing  citizen 

wlio  had  evidently  partaken  too 
freely  of  the  cup  that  cheers 
and  also  inebriates,  as  his  steps 
were  unsteady,  and  he  would 
have  fallen  to  the  ground  had 
it  not  been  for  the  assistance  of 
his  wife,  who  was  leading  him 
and  guiding  him  in  the  way  he 
should  go.  As  the  strangers 
went  past  him  he  raised  his 
hand  to  his  head ;  but  Frank 
could  not  determine  whether  it 
was  a  movement  of  salutation 
or  of  dazed  inquiry.  The  Doc- 
tor suggested  that  it  was  more 
likely  to  have  been  the  latter 
than  the  former,  since  the  Jap- 
anese do  not  salute  in  our  man- 
ner, and  the  man  was  too  much 
under  the  influence  of  the  "sa-kee"  he  had  swallowed  to  adopt  any  foreign 
modes  of  politeness.  Sights  like  this  are  not  unknown  in  the  great  cities 
of  Japan,  but  they  are  far  less  frequent  than  in  New  York  or  London. 
The  Japanese  say  that  drunkenness  is  on  the  decrease  in  the  past  few 
years,  owing  to  the  abolition  of  the  Samurai  class,  who  have  been  com- 
pelled to  work  for  a  living,  instead  of  being  supported  out  of  the  reve- 
nues of  the  state,  as  formerly.  They  have  less  time  and  money  for  dis- 
sipation now  tlian  they  had  in  the  olden  days,  and,  consequently,  their 
necessities  have  made  them  temperate. 

For  an  Oriental  citv  Tokio  has  remarkablv  wide  streets,  and  some  of 
them  are  laid  out  with  all  the  care  of  Western  engineering.  In  the 
course  of  their  morning  ride  the  party  came  to  Sakuradu  Avenue,  which 
Fred  recognized  from  a  drawing  by  a  native  artist,  who  had  taken  pains 
to  preserve  the  architecture  of  the  buildings  on  each  side  with  complete 
fidelity.  The  foundations  of  the  houses  were  of  irregular  stones  cut  in 
the  form  of  lozenges,  btit  not  with  mathematical  accuracy.  The  boys  had 
already  noticed  this  form  of  hewing  stone  in  the  walls  of  the  castles,  where 
some  very  large  blocks  were  piled.  They  were  reported  to  have  been 
brought  from  distant  parts  of  the  empire,  and  the  cost  of  their  transpor- 


A  STREET   IN  THE   JAPANESE  CAPITAL. 


119 


120  THE   IJOY   TRAVIXLKRS. 

tation  must  have  been  very  great.  Few  of  the  houses  were  of  more  than 
two  stories,  and  the  great  majority  were  of  only  one.  Along  Sakuradu 
Avenue  they  were  of  two  stories,  and  had  long  and  low  windows  with 
paper  screens,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  a  person  in  the  street  to  see 
what  was  going  on  inside.  The  eaves  projected  far  over  the  upright  sides, 
and  thus  formed  a  shelter  that  was  very  acceptable  in  the  heat  of  sum- 
mer, while  in  rainy  weather  it  had  many  advantages.  These  yashikis  were 
formerly  the  property  of  Daimios,  but  are  now  occupied  by  the  Foreign 
Office  and  the  War  Department.  Inside  the  enclosure  there  are  many 
shade-trees,  and  they  make  a  cooling  contrast  to  the  plain  walls  of  the 
buildings.  The  Japanese  rarely  paint  the  interior  or  the  exterior  of  their 
buildings.  IS'early  everything  is  linished  in  the  natural  color  of  the  wood, 
and  very  pretty  the  wood  is  too.  It  is  something  like  oak  in  appearance, 
but  a  trifle  darker,  and  is  susceptible  of  a  high  polish.  It  admits  of  a 
great  variety  of  uses,  and  is  very  easily  wrought.  It  is  known  as  keyaki- 
wood ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  immense  quantity  that  is  annually  used,  it  is 
cheap  and  abundant. 

Some  of  the  Daimios  expended  immense  amounts  of  money  in  the 
decoration  of  their  palaces  by  means  of  bronzes,  embroideries  on  silk, 
line  lacquer,  and  the  like.  Art  in  Japan  was  nourished  by  the  Daimios, 
and  we  have  much  to  thank  them  for  in  the  way  of  household  adorn- 
ment. 

Since  the  adoption  of  Western  ideas  in  decoration  and  household  fur- 
niture, the  Japanese  dwellings  have  lost  somewhat  in  point  of  attractive- 
ness. Our  carpets  and  furniture  are  out  of  place  in  a  Japanese  room,  and 
so  are  our  pictures  and  statuary.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  people  should  ever 
abandon  their  domestic  customs  for  ours,  whatever  they  might  do  in  the 
matter  of  military  equipment,  machinery,  and  other  things  that  are  more 
or  less  commercial.  Japanese  men  and  women  are  far  more  attractive  in 
their  native  dress  than  in  ours,  and  a  Japanese  house  loses  its  charm  when 
the  neat  mattings  give  way  to  European  carpets,  and  chairs  and  tables  are 
spread  around  in  place  of  the  simple  adornments  to  which  the  people  were 
accustomed. 

After  an  interesting  ride,  in  which  their  eyes  were  in  constant  use,  the 
boys  reached  the  Temple  of  Asakusa,  which  is  one  of  the  great  points  of 
attraction  to  a  stranger  in  Tokio.  The  street  which  led  up  to  the  temple 
was  lined  with  booths,  in  which  a  great  variety  of  things  were  offered  for 
sale.  Nearly  all  of  these  things  were  of  a  cheap  class,  and  evidently  the 
patrons  of  the  temple  were  not  of  the  wealthier  sort.  Toys  were  numer- 
ous, and  as  our  party  alighted  they  saw  some  children  gazing  wistfully  at 


SPORTS  OF  JAPANESE   CHILDREN. 


121 


a  collection  of  dolls ;  Frank  and  Fred  suggested  the  propriety  of  making' 
the  little  people  happy  by  expending  something  for  them.  The  Doctor 
gave  his  approval ;  so  the  boys  invested  a  sum  equal  to  about  twenty 
cents  of  our  money,  and  were  astonished  at  the  num- 
ber of  dolls  they  were  able  to  procure  for  their  out- 
lay. The  little  Japs  were  delighted,  and  danced 
around  in  their  glee,  just  as  any  children  might 
have  done  in  another  country.  A  few  paces  away 
some  boys  were  endeavoring  to  walk  on  bamboo 
poles,  and  evidently  they  were  having  a  jolly  time, 
to  judge  by  their  laughter.  Two  boys  were  hang- 
ing by  their  hands  from  a  pole,  and  endeavoring 
to  turn  somersets  ;  while  two  others  were  try- 
ing to  walk  on  a  pole  close  by  them.  One  of  the 
walkers  fell  off,  and  was  laughed  at  by  his  compan- 
ions ;  but  he  was  speedily  up  again,  determined  not 
to  give  up  till  he  had  accomplished  his  task.  | 

Japanese  children  are  well  supplied  with  dolls   i 
and  other  playtliings,  and  there  are  certain  festivals   , 
in  which  the  whole  family  devotes  itself  to  the  prep-  i 
aration    or  purchase   of   dolls    to  amuse   the  little   \ 
ones.     The  greatest  of  these  festivals  is  known  as  ! 
the  "  Hina  Matsuri,"  or  Feast  of  Dolls,  hina  mean-  i 
ing  doll,  and  matsuri  being  applicable  to  any  kind   ; 
of  feast.     It  occurs  on  the  third  day  of  the  third   • 
month,  and  for  several  days  before  the  appointed 
time  the  shops  are  filled  with  dolls  just  as  they  are 
filled  among  us   at  Christmas.     In  fact,  the  whole 
business  in  this  line  is  transacted  at  this  period,  and 
at  other  times  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  procure  the 
things  that  are  so  abundant  at  the  Matsuri.     Every 
family  that  can  afford  the  outlay  buys  a  quantity 
of  images   made    of  wood  or   enamelled  clay,  and 
dressed    to    represent    various    imperial,   noble,    or 
mythological  characters,  either  of  the  present  time 
or  of  some  former  period  in  Japanese  history.     In 
this  way  the  children  are  taught  a  good  deal  of  his- 
tory, and  their  delight  at  the  receipt  of  their  pres- 
ents is  quite  equal  to  that  of  children  in  Christian  lands.     Not  only 
dolls,  but  a  great  variety  of  other  things,  are  given  to  the  girls ;  for  the 


122 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


Hina  Matsuri  is  more  particularly  a  festival  for  girls  rather  than  for  boys. 
The  presents  are  arranged  on  tables,  and  there  is  general  rejoicing  in  the 
household.  Miniature  tea  and  toilet  sets,  miniature  bureaus  and  M'ard- 
robes,  and  miniature  houses  are  among  the  things  that  fall  to  the  lot  of 
a  Japanese  girl  at  the  time  of  the  Ilina  Matsuri. 

Fred  thought  the  Japanese  had  queer  notions  when  compared  witli 
ours  about  the  location  of  a  temple  in  the  midst  of  all  sorts  of  entertain- 


SIGHTS  NEAR  A  JAPANESE  TEMPLE. 


123 


iiients.  He  was  surprised  to  find  the  temple  surrounded  witli  booths  for 
singing  and  dancing  and  other  amusements,  and  was  very  sure  that  such 
a  thing  would  not  be  allowed  in  America.  Doctor  Bronson  answered 
that  the  subject  had  been  discussed  before  by  people  who  had  visited 
Japan,  and  various  opinions  had  been  formed  concerning  it.  He  thought 
it  was  not  unlike  some  of  the  customs  in  Europe,  especially  in  the  more 
Catholic  countries,  where  the  people  go  to  church  in  the  forenoon  and  de- 
vote the  afternoon  to  amusement.  A  Japanese  does  not  see  any  wrong  in 
going  to  his  worship  through  an  avenue  of  entertainments,  and  then  re- 
turning to  them.  He  says  his  prayers  as  a  matter  of  devotion,  and  then 
applies  himself  to  innocent  pleasure.  He  is  firmly  attached  to  his  re- 
ligious faith,  and  his  recreations  are  a  part  of  his  religion.  What  lie  does 
is  all  well  enough  for  him,  but  whether  it  would  answer  for  us  is  a  ques- 
tion whicli  cannot  be  decided  in  a  moment. 

Men  of  various  trades  were  working  in  the  shops  at  Asakusa,  and  their 
way  of  operating  Mas  of  much  interest  to  our  young  friends.  A  barber 
was  engaged  in  arranging  the  hair  of 
a  customer  ;  the  forehead  had  been 
shaven,  and  the  hair  at  the  back  of 
the  head  was  gathered  into  a  knot 
and  thickly  plastered,  so  as  to  make 
it  stick  and  remain  in  place  when 
turned  over  into  a  short  cue.  The  cus- 
tomer knelt  on  the  ground  in  front  of 
a  box  that  contained  the  tools  of  the 
operator's  trade,  and  by  his  side  was  a 
portable  furnace  for  heating  water. 
The  whole  equipment  was  of  very  lit- 
tle value,  and  the  expense  of  fitting  up 
a  fashionable  barber's  sliop  in  New 
York  would  send  hundreds  of  Japanese 
barbers  on  their  way  rejoicing. 

Close  by  was  a  clothes-merchant,  to  whom  a  customer  was  making  an 
offer,  while  the  dealer  was  rubbing  his  head  and  vowing  he  could  not  pos- 
sibly part  with  the  garment  at  that  price.  Frank  watched  him  to  see 
how  the  affair  terminated,  and  found  it  was  very  much  as  though  the 
transaction  had  been  in  New  York  instead  of  Tokio  :  the  merchant,  whis- 
pering he  would  ne'er  consent,  consented,  and  the  customer  obtained  the 
garment  at  his  own  figures  when  the  vender  found  he  could  not  obtain 
liis  own  price.     It  is  the  same  all  the  earth  over,  and  Frank  thought  he 


A    BARBKR    AT    AVOUK. 


124 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


:0.  i,  >    t> 


A    TUAX.SACTIOX    IK    CLOTHES. 


saw  in  this  tale  of  a  coat  the  touch  of  nature  that  makes  the  whole  world 
kin. 

Hundreds  of  pigeons  were  circling  around  the  temple,  or  walking 
among  the  people  that  thronged  the  street.  Nobody  showed  the  slightest 
intention  of  harming  them,  and  the  consequence  was  thej  were  very  tame. 
Several  stands  were  devoted  to  the  sale  of  grain  for  the  birds ;  and  the 
sharp-eyed  pigeons  knew,  when  they  saw  the  three  strangers  halt  in  front 
of  one  of  the  stands,  that  there  was  good  prospect  of  a  free  breakfast. 
The  Doctor  bought  a  quart  or  more  of  the  grain  and  threw  it  out  upon 
the  ground.  Instantly  there  was  a  whirring  of  wings  in  the  air,  and  in 
less  time  than  it  takes  to  say  so  the  grain  was  devoured.  The  birds  were 
rather  shy  of  the  visitors,  and  possibly  it  had  been  whispered  to  them  that 
the  foreigner  likes  his  pigeons  broiled  or  served  up  in  pies.  But  they  did 
not  display  any  such  timidity  when  the  natives  approached  them.  Some 
of  the  Japanese  temples  are  the  homes  of  a  great  number  of  pigeons,  and 
in  this  respect  they  resemble  the  mosques  at  Constantinople  and  other 
Moslem  cities. 

Close  at  hand  is  a  stable  where  two  beautiful  ponies  are  kept.  They 
are  snowy  white,  and  are  consecrated  to  the  goddess  Ku-wanon,  the  deity 
of  mercy,  who  is  the  presiding  genius  of  the  temple.  They  are  in  the 
care  of  a  young  girl,  and  it  is  considered  a  pious  duty  to  feed  them. 
Pease  and  beans  are  for  sale  outside,  and  many  devotees  contribute  a  few 
cash  for  the  benefit  of  the  sacred  animals.  If  the  poor  beasts  should  eat 
a  quarter  of  what  is  offered  to  them,  or,  rather,  of  what  is  paid  for,  they 
would  soon  die  of  overfeeding.  It  is  shrewdly  suspected  that  the  grain 
is  sold  many  times  over,  in  consequence  of  a  collusion  between  the  dealers 


BALL-PLAYING. 


125 


and  the  keeper  of  the  horses.     At  all  events,  the  health  of  the  animals  is 
regarded,  and  it  would  never  do  to  give  them  all  that  is  presented. 

Frank  found  the  air  full  of  odors  more  or  less  heavy,  and  some  of 
them  the  reverse  of  agreeable.  They  arose  from  numerous  sticks  of  in- 
cense burned  in  honor  of  the  gods,  and  which  are  irreverently  called  joss- 
sticks  by  foreigners.  The  incense  is  supposed  to  be  agreeable  to  the  god, 
and  the  smoke  is  thought  to  waft  the  supplicant's  prayer  to  heaven.  The 
same  idea  obtains  in  tlie  burning  of  a  paper  on  which  a  prayer  has  been 
printed,  the  flame  carrying  the  petition  as  it  flies  upward.     Traces  of  a 


BALL-PLATING    IN    JAPAN. 


similar  faith  are  found  in  the  Eoman  Catholic  and  Greek  churches,  where 
candles  have  a  prominent  place  in  rehgious  worship ;  and  the  Doctor  in- 
sisted to  his  young  companions  that  the  Christian  and  the  Pagan  are  not 
so  very  far  apart,  after  all.  In  addition  to  the  odor  of  incense,  there  was 
that  of  oil,  in  which  a  keeper  of  a  tiny  restaurant  was  frying  some  cuttle- 
fish. The  oil  was  of  the  sort  known  as  "  sesame,"  or  barley,  and  the 
smell  was  of  a  kind  that  does  not  touch  the  Western  nostril  as  agreeably 
as  does  that  of  lavender  or  Cologne  water.     Men  were  tossing  balls  in 


126 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLEItS. 


the  air  in  front  of  tlie  restaurant,  quite  unmindful  of  the  strong  odors, 
and  seeming  to  enjoy  the  sport,  and  a  woman  and  a  boy  \\-ere  so  busy 
over  a  game  of  battledoor  and  shuttlecock  that  they  did  not  observe  the 
presence  of  the  strangers. 

r 


SPORT   AT   ASAKL'SA. 


Through  tliis  active  scene  of  refreshment  and  recreation,  our  party 
strolled  along,  and  at  length  came  to  the  gateway  of  the  temple,  an  enor- 
mous structure  of  wood  like  a  house  with  triple  eaves,  and  raised  on  pillars 
resembling  the  piers  of  a  bridge.  This  is  similar  to  the  gateway  that  is 
found  in  front  of  nearly  every  Japanese  temple,  and  is  an  imposing  orna- 
ment. On  either  hand,  as  we  pass  through,  we  find  two  statues  of  demons, 
who  guard  the  entrance,  and  are  gotten  up  in  the  superlative  degree  of 
hideousness.  When  the  Japanese  give  their  attention  to  the  preparation 
of  an  image  of  surpassing  ugliness,  they  generally  succeed,  and  the  same  is 
the  case  when  they  search  after  the  beautiful.    Xothing  can  be  more  ugly 


PAGODAS  AND   TEMPLES. 


127 


in  feature  than  the  giants  at  Asakusa,  and  wliat  is  there  more  gracefully 
beautiful  than  the  Japanese  bronzes  that  were  shown  in  the  great  exhibi- 
tions at  Philadelphia  and  Paris  ?     Les  extremes  se  touchent. 

Fred  thought  he  would  propitiate  the  demons  in  a  roundabout  way, 
and  so  he  gave  a  few  pennies  to  some  old  beggars  that  were  sitting  near 
the  gateway.  The  most  of  them  were  far  from  handsome,  and  none  were 
beautiful ;  some  were  even  so  repulsive  in  features  as  to  draw  from  Frank 
the  suggestion  that  they  were  relatives  of  the  statues,  and  therefore  en- 
titled to  charity. 

Near  the  gateway  was  a  pagoda  or  tower  in  seven  stories,  and  it  is  said 
to  be  one  of  the  finest  in  Japan.  The  Japanese  pagoda  is  always  built  in 
an  odd  number  of  stories,  three,  five, 
seven,  or  nine,  and  it  usually  termi- 
nates, as  does  the  one  we  are  now  con- 
templating, with  a  spire  that  resem- 
bles an  enormous  corkscrew  more 
than  anything  else.  It  is  of  copper 
or  bronze,  and  is  a  very  beautiful 
ornament,  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
edifice  that  it  crowns.  On  its  pin- 
nacle there  is  a  jewel,  or  something 
supposed  to  be  one,  a  sacred  emblem 
that  appears  very  frequently  in  Jap- 
anese paintings  or  bronze-work.  The 
edges  of  the  little  roofs  projecting 
from  each  story  were  hung  with 
bells  that  rang  in  the  wind,  but 
their  noise  was  not  sufliciently  loud 
to  render  any  inconvenience  to  the 
visitor,  and  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  time  they  do  not  ring  at  all. 
The  architecture  of  the  pagoda  is  in 
keeping  with  that  of  the  surrounding  buildings,  and  thoroughly  Oriental 
in  all  its  features. 

They  passed  the  gateway  and  entered  the  temple.  The  huge  building 
towered  above  them  with  its  curved  roof  covered  with  enormous  tiles,  and 
its  eaves  projecting  so  far  that  they  suggested  an  umbrella  or  the  over- 
hanging sides  of  a  mushroom,  Frank  admired  the  graceful  curves  of  the 
roof,  and  wondered  why  nobody  had  ever  introduced  them  into  architect- 
ure in  America.     The  Doctor  told  him  that  the.  plan  had  been  tried  in  a 


SPIRK    OF    A    PAGODA. 


128 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


few  instances,  bnt  tliat  architects  were  generally  timid  about  innovations, 
and,  above  all,  they  did  not  like  to  borrow  from  the  Eastern  barbarians. 
Fred  thought  they  ought  to  be  willing  to  take  anything  that  was  good,  no 
matter  where  they  found  it,  and  Frank  echoed  his  sentiment. 


BELFRY    IN    COCRT-TAKU    OF    TEMPLE,  SHOWING    THE    STYLE    OF    A    JAPANESE    ROOF. 


SIGHTS  IN   A  JAPANESE   TEMPLE.  129 

"When  I  build  a  house,"  said  Fred,  "I  will  have  a  roof  on  it  after  tlie 
Japanese  style,  or,  at  any  rate,  something  suggestive  of  it.  The  Japanese 
roof  is  pretty  and  graceful,  and  would  look  well  in  our  landscape,  I  am 
sure.  I  don't  see  why  we  shouldn't  have  it  in  our  country,  and  I'll  take 
home  some  photographs  so  that  I  can  have  something  to  work  from." 

Frank  liinted  that  for  the  present  the  house  that  Fred  intended  to 
build  was  a  castle  in  the  air,  and  he  was  afraid  it  would  be  some  time  be- 
fore it  assumed  a  more  substantial  form. 

"  Perhaps  so,"  Fred  answered,  "  but  you  wait  awhile,  and  see  if  I  don't 
do  something  that  will  astonish  oui-  neighbors.  I  think  it  will  do  more 
practical  good  to  introduce  the  Japanese  roof  into  America  than  the  Jap- 
anese pillow." 

The}^  agreed  to  this,  and  then  Frank  said  it  was  not  the  place  to  waste 
their  time  in  discussions ;  they  could  talk  these  matters  over  in  the  even- 
ing, and  meauMhile  they  would  look  further  at  the  temple  and  its  sur- 
roundings. 

The  boys  were  somewhat  disappointed  at  the  appearance  of  the  interior 
of  the  temple.  They  had  expected  an  imposing  ediiice  like  a  cathedral, 
with  stately  columns  supporting  a  high  roof,  and  with  an  air  of  solemn 
stillness  pervading  the  entire  building.  They  ascended  a  row  of  broad 
steps,  and  entered  a  doorway  that  extended  to  half  the  width  of  the  front 
of  the  building.  The  place  was  full  of  worshippers  mingled  with  a  liberal 
quantity  of  pigeons,  votive  offerings,  and  dirt.  Knowing  the  Japanese 
love  for  cleanliness  in  their  domestic  life,  it  was  a  surprise  to  thej'ouths  to 
find  the  temple  so  much  neglected  as  it  appeared  to  be..  They  mentioned 
the  matter  to  Doctor  Bronson,  who  replied  that  it  probably  arose  from  the 
fact  that  the  business  of  everybody  was  the  business  of  nobody,  and  that 
the  priests  in  charge  of  the  temple  were  not  inclined  to  work  very  hard 
in  such  commonplace  affairs  as  keeping  the  edifice  properly  swept  out. 
Thousands  of  visitors  came  there  daily,  and  after  it  was  swept  in  the 
morning  the  place  soon  became  soiled,  and  a  renewal  of  the  cleansing 
process  would  be  a  serious  inconvenience  to  the  devotees. 

People  of  all  classes  and  kinds  were  coming  and  going,  and  saying 
their  prayers,  without  regard  to  each  other.  The  floor  was  crowded  with 
worshippers,  some  in  rags  and  others  in  silks,  some  in  youth  and  others  in 
old  age,  some  just  learning  to  talk  and  others  trembling  with  the  weight 
of  years;  beggars,  soldiers,  officers,  merchants,  women,  and  children  knelt 
together  before  the  shrine  of  the  goddess  whom  they  reverenced,  and 
whose  mercy  and  watchful  care  they  implored.  The  boys  were  impressed 
with  the  scene  of  devotion,  and  reverently  paused  as  they  moved  among 

9 


130 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


SUniXE    OF    THE    GODDESS   KC-WANOJI. 


tlie  pious  Japanese.  They 
respected  the  unquestion- 
ing faith  of  the  people  in 
the  power  of  their  goddess, 
and  l)ad  no  inclination  to 
the  feeling  of  derision  that 
is  sometimes  shown  by  vis- 
itors to  places  whose  sanc- 
tity is  not  in  accord  with 
their  own  views. 

But  very  soon  Frank 
had  occasion  to  bite  his  lip 
to  suppress  a  smile  when 
he  saw  one  of  the  Japanese 
throw  what  an  American 
schoolboy  would  call  a 
"  spit-bail "  at  the  head  of 
the  great  image  that  stood 
behind  the  altar.  Then  he 
observed  that  the  whole  figure  of  the  god  was  covered  with  these  balls,  and 
he  knew  there  must  be  some  meaning  to  the  action  that  he  at  first  thought 
so  funn3\  He  called  Fred's  attention  to  the  matter,  and  then  asked  the 
Doctor  what  it  meant. 

"  It  is  a  wa}^  they  have,"  replied  the  Doctor,  "  of  addressing  their  peti- 
tions to  the  deity.  A  Japanese  writes  his  prayer  on  a  piece  of  paper,  or 
buys  one  already-  written  ;  then  he  chews  it  to  a  pulp,  and  throws  it  at  the 
god.  If  the  ball  sticks,  the  omen  is  a  good  one,  and  the  prayer  will  be 
answered;  if  it  rebounds  or  falls,  the  sign  is  unlucky, and  the  petitioner 
must  begin  over  again.  I  have  been  told,"  continued  Doctor  Bronson, 
"  that  some  of  the  dealers  in  printed  prayei-s  apply  a  small  quantity  of  glue 
to  them  so  as  to  insure  their  sticking  when  thrown  at  the  divinity." 

In  front  of  the  great  altar  stood  a  box  like  a  large  trough,  and  into  this 
box  each  worshipper  threw  a  handful  of  copper  cash  or  small  coin  before 
saying  his  prayers.  There  were  two  or  three  bushels  of  this  coin  in  the 
trough,  and  it  is  said  that  frequently  the  contributions  amount  to  a  hun- 
dred dollars'  worth  in  a  single  day.  The  money  thus  obtained  is  expended 
in  repairing  and  preserving  the  building,  and  goes  to  support  the  priests 
attached  to  the  temple. 


VOTIVE   GIFTS  AND   TABLETS.  131 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ASAKUSA  AND  YUYENO.— FIRST  NATIONAL  FAIR  AT  TOKIO. 

ALL  around  the  shrine  of  the  temple  there  were  prayers  fastened, 
wherever  there  was  a  place  for  fastening  them.  On  the  left  of  the 
altar  there  was  a  large  lattice,  and  this  lattice  had  hundreds  of  prayers 
attached  to  it,  some  of  them  folded  and  others  open.  Several  old  men 
and  women  were  leaning  against  this  lattice,  or  squatted  on  the  floor  in 
front  of  it,  engaged  in  selling  prayers ;  and  they  appeared  to  be  doing  a 
thriving  business.  The  boys  bought  some  of  these  prayers  to  send  home 
as  curiosities ;  and  they  also  bought  some  charms  and  beads,  the  latter  not 
unlike  those  used  by  Catholics,  and  having  a  prominent  place  in  the  Jap- 
anese worship.  Then  there  were  votive  tablets  on  the  walls,  generally  in 
the  form  of  pictures  painted  on  paper  or  silk,  or  cut  out  of  thin  paper, 
like  silhouettes.  One  of  them  represents  a  ship  on  the  water  in  the  midst 
of  a  storm,  and  is  probably  the  offering  of  a  merchant  who  had  a  marine 
venture  that  he  wished  to  have  the  goddess  take  under  her  protection. 
Shoes  and  top-knots  of  men  and  women  were  among  the  offerings,  and 
the  most  of  them  were  labelled  with  the  names  of  the  donors.  These 
valueless  articles  are  never  disturbed,  but  remain  in  their  places  for  years, 
while  costly  treasures  of  silver  or  gold  are  generally  removed  in  a  few 
days  to  the  private  sanctuary  of  the  goddess  for  fear  of  accidents.  Even 
in  a  temple,  all  the  visitors  cannot  be  trusted  to  keep  their  hands  in  check. 
It  is  intimated  that  the  priests  are  sometimes  guilty  of  appropriating  val- 
uable things  to  their  own  use.  But  then  what  could  you  expect  of  a  lot 
of  heathens  like  the  Japanese  ?  Nothing  of  the  kind  could  happen  in  a 
Christian  land. 

There  were  more  attractions  outside  the  temple  than  in  it  for  our 
young  visitors,  and,  after  a  hasty  glance  at  the  shrines  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  great  altar,  they  went  again  into  the  open  air. 

Not  far  from  the  entrance  of  the  temple  Frank  came  upon  a  stone 
wheel  set  in  a  post  of  the  same  material.  He  looked  it  over  with  the 
greatest  care,  and  wondered  what  kind  of  labor-saving  machine  it  was.  A 
quantity  of  letters,  and  figures  on  the  sides  of  the  post  increased  his  thirst 


132 


•rilK    BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


for  knowledge,  and  he  longed  to  be  able  to  read  Japanese,  so  that  he 
might  know  the  name  of  the  inventor  of  this  piece  of  mechanism,  and 
what  it  was  made  for. 

He  turned  to  the  Doctor  and  asked  what  was  the  use  of  the  post,  and 

Jiow  it  was  operated. 

Just  as  he  spoke,  a  man  passed  near  the 
machine  and  gave  the  wheel  a  blow  that  sent 
it  spinning  around  with  great  rapidit3\  The 
man  gave  a  glance  at  it  to  see  that  it  was 
turning  well,  and  then  moved  on  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  temple. 

"  I  know  what  that  is,"  said  Fred,  who 
came  along  at  the  moment  Frank  expressed 
his  wonder  to  Doctor  Bronson. 
"Well,  what  is  it?" 

"  It's  a  praying-machine ;  I  read  about  it 
the  other  day  in  a  book  on  Japan." 

"  Quite  right,"  responded  the  Doctor ;  "  it 
is  a  machine  used  in  every  country  where 
Buddhism  is  the  religion." 

Then  he  went  on  to  explain  that  there  is 
a  formula  of  prayers  on  the  sides  of  the  post, 
and  sometimes  on  the  wheel,  and  that  for  each 
revolution  of  the  wheel  these  prayers  are  sup- 
posed to  be  uttered.  A  devotee  passes,  and, 
as  he  does  so,  he  revolves  the  wheel ;  and  for 
each  tin)e  it  turns  around  a  prayer  is  recorded 
in  heaven  to  his  credit.  It  follows  that  a  man 
with  strong  arms,  and  possefsing  a  knack  of 
making  the  wheel  spin  around,  can  do  a  great 
deal  more  petitioning  to  Heaven  than  the  weak 
and  clumsy  one. 

Fred  thouijht  that  it  would  be  a  ffood  thino: 
to  attach  these  prayer -wheels  to  mills  pro- 
pelled by  water,  wind,  or  steam,  and  thus  se- 
cure a  steady  and  continuous  revolution.  The 
Doctor  told  him  that  this  was  actually  done  in 
some  of  the  Buddhist  countries,  and  a  good  many  of  the  pious  people  said 
their  prayers  by  machinery. 

They  strolled  along  to  where  there  were  some  black-eyed  girls  in 


FRATIMO-HACHIKE. 


JAPANESE  WAX-WORKS.  133» 

charge  of  bootlis,  where,  for  a  small  consideration,  a  visitor  can  practise 
shooting  with  bows  and  arrows.  The  bows  were  very  small,  and  the 
arrows  were  blant  at  the  ends.  The  target  was  a  drum,  and  consequent- 
ly the  marksman's  ear," rather  than  the  eye,  told  when  a  shot  was  success- 
ful. The  drums  were  generally  square,  and  in  front  of  each  there  was  n 
little  block  of  wood.  A  click  on  the  wood  showed  that  a  shot  was  ot 
more  value  than  when  it  was  followed  by  the  dull  boom  of  the  drum. 
The  girls  brought  tea  to  the  boys,  and  endeavored  to  engage  them  in 
conversation,  but,  as  there  was  no  common  language  in  which  they  could 
talk,  the  dialogue  was  not  particularly  interesting.  The  boys  patronized 
the  archery  business,  and  tried  a  few  shots  with  the  Japanese  equipments ; 
but  they  found  the  little  arrows  rather  difficult  to  handle,  on  account  of 
their  diminutive  size.  An  arrow  six  inches  long  is  hardly  heavy  enough 
to  allow  of  a  steady  aim,  and  both  of  the  youths  declared  they  would 
prefer  something  more  weighty. 

Near  the  archery  grounds  there  was  a  collection  of  so-called  wax- 
works, and  the  Doctor  paid  the  entrance-fees  for  the  party  to  the  show. 
These  wax-woi"ks  consist  of  thirtj'-six  tableaux  with  life-size  figures,  and 
are  intended  to  represent  miracles  wrought  by  Ku-wanon,  the  goddess  of 
the  temple.  They  are  the  production  of  one  artist,  who  had  visited  the 
temples  devoted  to  Ku-wanon  in  various  parts  of  Japan,  and  determined 
to  represent  her  miracles  in  such  a  way  as  to  instruct  those  who  were 
unable  to  make  the  pilgrimage,  as  he  had  done.  One  of  the  tableaux 
shows  the  goddess  restoring  to  health  a  young  lady  who  has  prayed  to 
her;  another  shows  a  woman  saved  from  shipwreck,  in  consequence  of 
liaving  prayed  to  the  goddess ;  in  another  a  woman  is  falling  from  a  lad- 
der, but  the  goddess  saves  her  from  injury ;  in  another  a  pious  man  is 
saved  from  robbers  by  his  dog ;  and  in  another  a  true  believer  is  over- 
coming and  killing  a  serpent  that  sought  to  do  him  harm.  Several  of  the 
groups  represent  demons  and  fairies,  and  the  Japanese  skill  in  depicting 
the  hideous  is  well  illustrated.  One  of  them  shows  a  robber  desecrating 
the  temple  of  the  goddess ;  and  the  result  of  his  action  is  hinted  at  by  a 
group  of  demons  who  are  about  to  carry  him  away  in  a  cart  of  iron, 
which  has  been  heated  red-hot,  and  has  wheels  and  axles  of  flaming  fire. 
He  does  not  appear  ovei'joyed  with  the  free  ride  that  is  in  prospect  for 
him.  These  figures  are  considered  the  most  remarkable  in  all  Japan,  and 
many  foreign  visitors  have  pronounced  them  superior  to  the  celebrated 
collection  of  Madame  Tussaud  in  London.  Ku-wanon  is  represented  as  a 
beautiful  lady,  and  in  some  of  the  figures  there  is  a  wonderfully  gentle 
expression  to  her  features. 


134 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


AKCUKKY    ATTENDANT, 


A  JAPANESE  FLOWER-GARDEN. 


135' 


Asakusa  is  famous  for  its  flower-shows,  which  occur  at  frequent  inter- 
vals, and,  luckily  for  our  visitors,  one  was  in  progress  at  the  time  of  their 
pilgrimage  to  the  temple.  The  Japanese  are  great  lovers  of  flowers,  and 
frequently  a  man  will  deprive  himself  of  tilings  of  which  he  stands  in 
actual  need  in  order  to  purchase  his  favorite  blossoms.  As  in  all  other 
countries,  tlie  women  are  more  passionately  fond  of  floral  productions 
tiian  the  men  ;  and  when  a  flower-show  is  in  progress,  there  is  sure  to  be 
a  large  attendance  of  the  fairer  sex.  Many  of  these  exhibitions  are  held 
at  night,  as  a  great  portion  of  the  public  are  unable  to  come  in  the  day- 
time on  account  of  their  occupations.  At  night  the  place  is  lighted  up  by 
means  of  torches  stuck  in  the  ground  among  the  flowers,  and  the  scene  is 
quite  picturesque. 


A    JAPANESE   iLOWEK-SHOW.       MGllT    SCENli. 


Frank  and  Fred  were  greatly  interested  to  find  tlie  love  which  tlie 
Japanese  have  for  dwarfed  plants  and  for  plants  in  fantastic  shapes.  The 
native  florists  are  wonderfully  skilful  in  this  kind  of  work,  and  some  of 
their  accomplishments  would  seem  impossible  to  American  gardeners. 
For  example,  they  will  make  representations  of  mountains,  houses,  men, 
women,  cats,  dogs,  boats,  carts,  ships  nnder  full  sail,  and  a  hundred  other 


136  THE    BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

tilings — all  in  plants  growing  in  pots  or  in  the  ground.  To  do  tliis  they 
take  a  frame  of  wire  or  bamboo  in  the  shape  of  the  article  they  wish  to 
represent,  and  then  compel  the  plant  to  grow  around  it.  Day  by  day  the 
plant  is  trained,  bent  a  little  here  and  a  little  there,  and  in  course  of  time 
it  assumes  the  desired  form  and  is  ready  for  the  market.  If  an  animal  is 
represented,  it  is  made  more  life-like  by  the  addition  of  a  pair  of  porcelain 
eyes ;  but  there  is  rarely  any  other  part  of  his  figure  that  is  formed  of  any- 
thing else  than  the  living  green.  Our  boys  had  a  merry  time  among  the 
treasures  of  the  gardener  in  picking  out  the  animate  and  inanimate  forms 
that  were  represented,  and  both  regretted  that  they  could  not  send  home 
some  of  the  curious  things  that  they  found.  Frank  discovered  a  model  of 
a  house  that  he  knew  would  please  his  sister;  and  he  was  quite  sure  that 
Miss  Ethe  would  dance  with  delight  if  she  could  feast  her  eyes  on  a  figure 
of  a  dog,  with  the  short  nose  for  which  the  dogs  of  Japan  are  famous,  and 
with  sharp  little  eyes  of  porcelain. 

Fred  cared  less  for  the  models  in  green  than  he  did  for  some  dwarf 
trees  that  seemed  to  strike  his  fancy  particularly.  There  were  pines,  oaks, 
and  other  trees  familiar  to  our  eyes,  only  an  inch  or  two  in  height,  but  as 
perfectly  formed  as  though  they  were  of  the  natural  size  in  which  we  see 
them  in  their  native  forests.  Then  there  were  bamboo,  cactus,  and  a  great 
many  other  plants  that  grow  in  Japan,  but  with  which  we  are  not  familiar. 
There  was  such  a  quantity  of  them  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  the  dwarfing 
of  plants  is  thoroughly  understood  in  Japan  and  has  received  much  atten- 
tion. Doctor  Bronson  told  the  boys  that  the  profession  of  florist,  like 
many  other  professions  and  trades,  was  hereditary,  and  that  the  knowledge 
descended  from  father  to  son.  The  dwarfing  of  plants,  and  their  training 
into  unnatural  shapes  and  forms,  have  been  practised  for  thousands  of 
years,  and  the  present  state  of  the  florist's  art  is  the  result  of  centuries  of 
development. 

In  the  flower-show  and  among  the  tea-booths  the  party  remained  at 
their  leisure  until  it  was  time  to  think  of  going  away  from  Asakusa  and 
seeing  something  else.  As  they  came  out  of  the  temple  grounds  they  met 
a  wedding  party  going  in,  and  a  few  paces  farther  on  they  encountered  a 
christening  party  proceeding  in  the  same  direction.  The  wedding  proces- 
sion consisted  of  three  persons,  and  the  other  of  four;  but  the  principal 
member  of  the  latter  group  was  so  young  that  he  was  carried  in  the  arms 
of  one  of  his  companions,  and  had  very  little  to  say  of  the  performances 
in  which  he  was  to  take  a  prominent  part.  Frank  observed  that  he  did 
not  cry,  as  any  well-regulated  baby  M'ould  have  done  in  America,  and  re- 
n)arked  upon  the  oddity  of  the  circumstance.     The  Doctor  informed  him 


GOOD-NATURE   OF  JAPANESE   BABIES. 


137 


that  it  was  not  the  fasli- 
iou  for  babies  to  cry  in 
Japan,  unless  they  be- 
longed to  foreign  par- 
ents. 

Frank  opened  his  eyes 
with  astonishment.  Fred 
did  likewise. 

"And  is  it  really  the 
case,"  said  Frank,  "tliat 
a  Japanese  baby  never 
cries  ?" 

"  I  could  hardly  say 
that,"  the  Doctor  an- 
swered ;  "  but  you  may 
live  a  long  time  in  Japan, 
and  see  lots  of  babies  with- 
out hearing  a  cry  from 
one  of  them.  An  Ameri- 
can or  English  baby  Avill 
make  more  noise  and 
trouble  tlian  fifty  Japan- 
ese ones.  You  have  seen 
a  great  many  small  chil- 
dren since  j'ou  landed  in 
Japan,  and  now  stop  and  think  if  you  have  heard  one  of  tliem  cry." 

The  boys  considered  a  moment,  and  were  forced  to  admit  that,  as  Frank 
expressed  it,  they  hadn't  heard  a  whimper  from  a  native  infant.  And 
they  added  tliat  they  were  not  anxious  to  hear  any  either. 

The  child  that  they  saw  was  probably  an  urchin  of  about  four  weeks, 
as  it  is  the  custom  to  shave  the  head  of  an  infant  on  the  thirtieth  day,  or 
very  near  that  date,  and  take  him  to  the  temple.  There  tlie  priest  per- 
forms a  ceremonial  very  much  Kke  a  christening  with  us,  and  for  the  same 
object.  The  party  in  the  present  instance  consisted  of  a  nurse  carrying 
the  child,  a  servant  holding  an  umbrella  to  shield  the  nurse  and  child  from 
the  sun,  and  lastly  the  father  of  the  youngster.  The  mother  does  not  ac- 
company the  infant  on  this  journey,  or,  at  all  events,  it  is  not  necessary 
that  she  should  do  so. 

The  wedding  procession  that  our  boys  encountered  consisted  of  the 
bride  and  her  mother,  with  a  servant  to  hold  an  umbrella  to  protect  them 


A   CHRISTKNING   IN    JAPAK. 


138 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


from  the  sun.  Mother  and 
daugliter  were  riclily  at- 
tired, and  tlieir  heads  were 
covered  with  shawls  lieav- 
ily  embroidered.  AV^ed- 
dings  in  Japan  do  not  take 
place  in  the  temples,  as 
might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected, but  a  part  of  the 
ceremonial  is  performed 
at  the  house  of  the  bride, 
and  the  remainder  at  that 
of  the  bridegroom.  After 
the  wedding  the  bride  ac- 
companies her  mother  to 
the  temple  to  say  her 
prayers  for  a  happy  life, 
and  this  was  the  occasion 
which  our  young  adven- 
turers happened  to  wit- 
ness. 

There  are  many  other 
temples  in  Tokio  besides 
Asakusa,  and  the  stranger 
who  wishes  to  devote  his  time  to  the  study  of  Japanese  temples  can  have 
his  wishes  gratified  to  the  fufiest  degree.  After  our  party  had  finished 
the  sights  of  Asakusa,  they  went  to  another  quarter  where  they  spent 
an  hour  among  temples  that  were  less  popular,  though  more  elegant, 
than  those  of  the  locality  we  have  just  described.  The  beauty  of  the 
architecture  and  the  general  elegance  of  the  interior  of  the  structures  cap- 
tivated them,  and  they  unhesitatingly  pronounced  the  religious  edifices  of 
Japan  the  finest  they  had  ever  seen. 

They  were  hungry,  and  the  Doctor  suggested  Uyeno.  The  boys  did 
not  know  what  Uyeno  was,  but  concluded  they  would  like  some.  Fred 
asked  if  it  was  really  good. 

The  Doctor  told  them  that  Uyeno  was  excellent,  and  Frank  asked  how 
it  was  prepared.  He  was  somewhat  taken  aback  when  he  learned  that 
Uyeno  was  not  an  article  of  food,  but  a  place  where  food  was  to  be  ob- 
tained. 

They  went  there  and  found  a  pretty  park  on  a  hill  that  overlooked 


A    WEDDING    PAUTY. 


UYENO  PARK, 


139 


STROLLING   SINGERS   AT   ASAKDSA. 


a  considerable  portion  of  the  city.  At  one  side  of  the  park  there  was  an 
enclosure  containing  several  tombs  of  the  shogoons,  or  tycoons,  of  Japan, 
and  there  was  a  neat  little  temple  that  is  held  in  great  reverence,  and  re- 
ceives annually  many  thousands  of  visitors.  On  an  edge  of  the  hill,  where 
a  wide  view  was  to  be  had  over  the  houses  of  the  great  capital,  an  enter- 
prising Japanese  had  erected  a  restaurant,  which  he  managed  after  the 
European  manner,  and  was  driving  a  profitable  business.  He  Avas  patron- 
ized by  the  foreign  visitors  and  residents,  and  also  by  many  of  the  Jap- 
anese officials,  who  had  learned  to  like  foreign  cookery  and  customs  during 
their  journeys  abroad,  or  were  endeavoring  to  familiarize  themselves  with 
its  peculiarities.  Our  friends  found  the  restaurant  quite  satisfactory,  and 
complimented  the  proprietor  on  the  success  of  his  management.  It  is  no 
easy  matter  for  a  native  to  introduce  foreign  customs  into  his  hotel  in  such 
a  way  as  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  people  of  the  country  from  which  the 
customs  are  taken. 

Uyeno  is  not  by  any  means  the  only  elevation  in  Tokio  from  which 
a  good  view  can  be  had  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country.  There  are 
several  elevations  where  such  views  are  obtainable,  and  in  nearly  all  of 
them  the  holy  mountain,  Fusiyama,  has  a  prominent  place.  A  famous  view 
is  that  of  Atago  Yama,  and  another  is  from  Suruga  Dai.  Both  these  places 
are  popular  resorts,  and  abound  in  tea-houses,  refreshment  booths,  swings, 
and  other  public  attractions.  On  pleasant  afternoons  there, is  always  a 
large  attendance  of  the  populace,  and  it  is  interesting  to  see  them  amusing 
themselves.    There  are  old  people,  middle-aged  people,  youths,  and  infants, 


140 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


VIEW    FKOH    SUKUGA    DAI    IN   TOKIO. 


the  latter  on  tlie  backs  of  their  nurses,  wliere  they  liang  patiently  on,  and 

seem  to  enjoy  their  share  of  the  fun.  The 
quantity  of  tea  that  the  natives  consume  in  one 
of  these  afternoon  entertainments  is  something 
prodigious ;  but  they  do  not  seem  to  suffer  any 
injur}'  from  what  some  of  us  would  consider  a 
wild  dissipation. 

Not  far  from  where  the  Doctor  and  his 
young  friends  were  seated  was  an  enclosure 
where  was  held  the  First  National  Fair  of 
Tokio  in  1877.  The  enclosure  Mas  still  stand- 
ing, and  it  was  the  intention  of  the  govern- 
ment to  hold  a  fair  there  annually,  as  it  fully 
recognized  the  advantages  of  these  exhibitions 
as  educators  of  the  people.  The  Japanese  are 
not  generally  well  informed  as  to  the  products 
of  their  own  country  outside  of  the  provinces 
where  they  happen  to  live.  A  native  can  tell 
you  what  his  own  district  or  province  produces, 
but  he  is  often  lamentably  ignorant  of  the  resources  of  other  parts  of  the 
country.  It  is  to  break  up  this  ignorance,  and  also  to  stimulate  improve- 
ments in  the  various  industries,  that  these  national  fairs  have  been  estab- 
lished. 

As  the  description  of  the  First  National  Fair  at  Tokio  may  not  be  un- 
interesting, we  will  copy  from  a  letter  to  a  New  York  paper,  by  one  of  its 
correspondents  who  was  in  Japan  at  the  time.  After  describing  the  open- 
ing ceremonies,  which  were  attended  by  the  emperor  and  empress,  together 
with  many  high  dignitaries  of  the  government,  he  wrote  as  follows  : 

"  The  buildings  are  arranged  to  enclose  an  octagonal  space,  and  conse- 
quently a  visitor  finds  himself  at  the  starting-point  when  he  has  made  the 
rounds.     The  affair  is  in  the  hands  of  the  gentlemen  wha  controlled  the 


A  child's  nubsb. 


OPENING   OF   THE   FIRST   NATIONAL   FAIR  AT   TOKIO. 


141 


Japanese  department  of  the  Philadelphia  Exhibition  in  1876,  and  many  of 
the  features  of  our  Centennial  have  been  reproduced.  They  have  Agri- 
cultural Hall,  Machinery  Hall,  Horticultural  Hall,  and  Fine  Arts  Gallery, 
as  at  the  Centennial ;  and  then  they  have  Eastern  Hall  and  Western  Hall, 
which  the  Quaker  City  did  not  have.  They  have  restaurants  and  refresh- 
ment booths,  and  likewise  stands  for  the  sale  of  small  articles,  such  as 
are  most  likely  to  tempt  strangers.  In  many  respects  the  exhibition  is 
quite  similar  to  an  affair  of  the  same  kind  in  America;  and  with  a  few 
changes  of  costume,  language,  and  articles  displayed,  it  might  pass  for 
a  state  or  county  fair  in  Maine  or  Minnesota. 

"The  display  of  manu- 
factured articles  is  much  like 
that  in  the  Japanese  section 
at  Philadelphia,  but  is  not 
nearly  so  large,  the  reason 
being  that  the  mercliants  do 
not  see  as  good  chances  for 
business  as  they  did  at  the 
Centennial,  and  consequently 
they  have  not  taken  so  much 
trouble  to  come  in.  Many 
of  the  articles  shown  were 
actually  at  Philadelphia,  but 
did  not  find  a  market,  and 

have  been  brought  out  again  in  the  hope  that  they  may  have  better  luck. 
The  bronzes  are  magnificent,  and  some  of  them  surpass  anything  that  was 
shown  at  the  Centennial,  or  has  ever  been  publicly  exhibited  outside  of 
Japan.  The  Japanese  seem  determined  to  maintain  their  reputation  of 
being  the  foremost  workers  of  bronze  in  the  world.  They  have  also  some 
beautiful  work  in  lacquered  ware,  but  their  old  lacquer  is  better  than  the 
new. 

"  In  their  Machinery  Hall  they  have  a  very  creditable  exhibit,  consider- 
ing how  recently  they  have  opened  the  country  to  the  Western  world,  and 
how  little  they  had  before  the  opening  in  the  Avay  of  Western  ideas.  There 
is  a  small  steam-engine  of  Japanese  make ;  there  are  two  or  three  looms, 
some  rice-mills,  winnowing-machines,  an  apparatus  for  winding  and  spin- 
ning silk,  some  pumps,  a  hay-cutter,  and  a  fire-engine  worked  by  hand. 
Tlien  there  are  several  agricultural  machines,  platform  scales,  pnmps,  and  a 
wood-working  apparatus  from  American  makers,  and  there  are  two  or 
three  of  English  production.     In  the  Agricultural  Hall  there  are  horse- 


LOVEUS    BEHIND    A    SCREEN.        A    PAINTING    ON    SILK    EX- 
HIBITED   AT    THE    TOKIO    FAIR. 


142 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


rakes,  mowers,  reapei-s,  and  plouglis  from  America,  and  there  are  also  some 
well-made  ploughs  from  Japanese  hands.  In  the  Eastern  Hall  there  are 
some  delicate  balances  for  weighing  coin  and  the  precious  metals ;  they 
were  made  for  the  mint  at  Osaka,  and  look  wonderfully  like  the  best 
French  or  German  balances.  The  Japanese  have  been  quite  successful  in 
copying  these  instruments,  more  so  than  in  imitating  the  heavier  scales 
from  America.  Fairbanks's  scales  have  been  adopted  as  the  standard  of 
the  Japanese  postal  and  customs  departments.  Some  of  the  skilful  work- 
men in  Japan  thought  they  could  make  their  own  scales,  and  so  they  set 
about  copying  the  American  one.  They  made  a  scale  that  looked  just  as 
well,  but  was  not  accurate  as  a  weighing-machine.  As  the  chief  use  of  a 
scale  is  to  weigh  correctly,  they  concluded  to  quit  their  experiments  and 
stick  to  Fairbanks's. 


BLACKSMITH  8   BELLOWS. 


"  There  is  an  interesting  display  of  the  natural  products  of  Japan,  and 
it  is  exceedingly  instructive  to  a  stranger.  The  Japanese  are  studying 
these  things  with  great  attention,  and  the  fair  will  undoubtedly  prove  an 
excellent  school  for  the  people  by  adding  to  their  stock  of  information 
about  themselves.  Each  section  bears  over  its  entrance  the  name  of  the 
city,  province,  or  district  it  represents,  and  as  these  names  are  displayed  in 
English  as  well  as  in  Japanese,  a  stranger  has  no  difficulty  in  finding  out 
the  products  of  the  different  parts  of  th^  empire.  The  result  is  that  many 
articles  are  repeated  in  the  exhibition,  and  you  meet  with  them  again  and 
again.  Such,  for  example,  are  raw  silks,  which  come  from  various  locali- 
ties, as  likewise  do  articles  of  leather,  wood,  and  iron.  Porcelain  of  various 
kinds  appears  repeatedly,  and  so  do  the  woods  used  for  making  furniture. 
There  is  an  excellent  show  of  porcelain,  and  some  of  the  pieces  are  of 
enormous  size.  Ivaga,  Satsuma,  Ilizen,  Kioto,  Nagasaki,  and  other  wares 
are  in  abundance,  and  a  student  of  ceramics  will  find  enough  to  interest 
him  for  many  hours. 

'"  In  cordage  and  material  for  ship-building  there  is  a  good  exhibit, 
and  there  are  two  well-made  models  of  gun-boats.   Wheat,  rice,  millet,  and 


JAPANESE  PRODUCTS. 


143 


other  grains  are  represented  by  numerous  samples,  and  there  are  several 
specimens  of  Indian -corn,  or  maize,  grown  on  Japanese  soil.  There  is 
a  goodly  array  of  canned  fruits  and  meats,  mostly  the  former,  some 
in  tin  and  the  rest  in  glass.  Vinegars, 
rice- whiskey,  soy,  and  the  like  are  abun- 
dant, and  so  is  dried  fish  of  several  kinds. 
There  is  a  good  disj^lay  of  tea  and  tobacco, 
the  former  being  in  every  form,  from  the 
tea-plant  np  to  tlie  prepared  article  ready 
for  shipment.  One  has  only  to  come  here 
to  see  the  many  uses  to  which  the  Japan- 
ese put  fibrous  grasses  in  making  mats, 
overcoats,  and  similar  things ;  and  there 
are  like  displays  of  the  serviceability  of 
bamboo.  From  the  north  of  Japan  there 
are  otter  and  other  skins,  and  from  various 
points  there  are  models  of  boats  and  nets 
to  illustrate  tlie  fishing  business.  The  engineering  department  shows 
some  fine  models  of  bridges  and  dams,  and  has  evidently  made  good 
progress  since  its  organization." 


A    GRASS    OVEKCOAT. 


144  THE   BOY   TKAVELLEltS. 


CHAPTER   X. 

WALKS  AND   TALKS   IN   TOKIO. 

"IT^IIILE  the  Doctor  and  liis  companions  were  at  table  in  the  res- 
*  *  tanrant  at  U^'euo,  they  were  surprised  by  the  presence  of  an  old 
acquaintance.  Mr.  A.,  or  "  The  Mystery,"  who  had  been  their  fellow-pas- 
senger from  San  Francisco,  suddenly  entered  the  room,  accompanied  by 
two  Japanese  officials,  with  M'hom  he  M'as  evidently  on  very  friendly 
terms.  They  were  talking  in  English,  and  the  two  natives  seemed  to  be 
quite  fluent  in  it,  but  they  evidently  preferred  to  say  little  in  the  presence 
of  the  strangers.  Mr.  A.  was  equally  disinclined  to  talk,  or  even  to  make 
himself  known,  as  he  simply  nodded  to  Doctor  Bronson  and  the  boys,  and 
then  sat  down  in  a  distant  corner.  When  the  waiter  came,  he  said  some- 
thing to  him  in  a  low  tone,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  proprietor  appeared, 
and  led  the  way  to  a  private  room,  where  the  American  and  his  Japanese 
friends  would  be  entirely  by  themselves. 

As  Frank  expressed  it, "  something  was  up,"  but  what  that  something 
was  they  did  not  see  any  prospect  of  ascertaining  immediately.  After  a 
few  moments  devoted  to  wonderinor  what  could  be  the  meaninfj  of  the 
movements  of  the  mysterious  stranger,  they  dropped  the  subject  and  re- 
sumed their  conversation  about  Japan. 

Fred  had  some  questions  of  a  religious  character  to  propound  to  the 
Doctor.  They  had  grown  out  of  his  observations  during  their  visits  to 
the  temples. 

"  I  noticed  in  some  of  the  temples,"  said  Fred,  "  that  there  were 
statues  of  Buddha  and  also  other  statues,  but  in  other  temples  there  were 
no  statues  of  Buddha  or  any  one  else.     What  is  the  meaning  of  this  ?" 

"  It  is  because  the  temples  belong  to  different  forms  of  religion,"  the 
Doctor  answered.  "  Those  where  you  saw  the  statues  of  Buddha  are  Bud- 
dhist in  their  faith  and  form  of  worship,  while  the  rest  are  of  another  kind 
which  is  called  Shinto." 

"And  what  is  the  difference  between  Buddhism  and  Shintoism?" 
Frank  inquired. 


AN  ESSAY  ON  JAPANESE   RELIGIONS. 


145 


"  The  difference,"  Doctor  Bronson  explained,  "  is  about  the  same  as 
that  between  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  and  that  of  the  Protestants.  As 
I  understand  it — but  I  confess  that  I  am  not  quite  clear  on  the  subject — 
Shintoism  is  the  result  of  a  reforma- 
tion of  the  Buddhist  religion,  just  as 
our  Protestant  belief  is  a  reforma- 
tion of  Catholicism. 

"  Xow,  if  you  want  to  study 
Buddhism,"  he  continued,  "  I  must 
refer  you  to  a  work  on  the  relig- 
ions of  the  world,  or  to  an  encyclo- 
pedia, as  we  have  no  time  to  go  into 
a  religious  dissertation,  and,  besides, 
our  lunch  might  be  spoiled  while  we 
were  talking.  And  another  reason 
M'hy  we  ought  not  to  enter  deeply 
into  the  subject  is  that  I  should  find 
it  impossible  to  make  a  clear  exposi- 
tion of  the  principles  of  the  Bud- 
dhist faith  or  of  Shintoism ;  and  if 
you  pressed  me  too  closely,  I  might 
become  confused.  The  religions  of 
the  East  are  very  difficult  to  com- 
prehend, and  I  have  known  men  who  had  lived  twenty  years  in  China 
or  India,  and  endeavored  to  study  the  forms  and  principles  of  the  relig- 
ions of  those  countries,  who  confessed  their  inability  to  understand  them. 
For  my  own  part,  I  must  admit  that  when  I  have  listened  to  explanations 
by  Japanese,  or  other  people  of  the  East,  of  their  religious  faith,  I  have 
lieard  a  great  deal  that  I  could  not  comprehend.  I  concede  their  sinceri- 
ty ;  and  when  they  say  there  is  a  great  deal  in  our  forms  of  worship  that 
they  do  not  understand,  I  believe  they  are  telling  the  truth.  Our  ways  of 
thought  are  not  their  ways,  and  what  is  clear  to  one  is  not  at  all  so  to  an- 
other. 

"  I  have  already  told  you  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Shogoon,  or  Tycoon, 
and  the  return  of  the  Mikado  to  power  as  the  ruler  of  all  the  country. 
The  Shogoon  and  his  family  were  adherents  of  Buddhism,  while  the  Mika- 
do's followers  were  largely  of  the  Shinto  faith.  When  the  Mikado's  pow- 
er was  restored,  there  was  a  general  demand  on  the  part  of  the  Shintoists 
that  the  Buddhist  temples  should  be  destroyed  and  the  religion  effaced. 
A  good  number  of  temples  were  demolished,  and  the  government  took 

10 


A    HIGlI-l'UIESr    IN    FULL    COSTUME. 


146 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


A   JAPANESB  TEMPLB. 


away  much  of  the  revenue  of  those  that  remained.  The  temples  are  rap- 
idly going  to  decay,  as  there  is  no  money  to  expend  on  them  for  re- 
pairs, and  it  is  quite  possible  that  tlie  beginning  of  the  next  century  may 
see  them  overthrown.  Some  of  them  are  magnificent  specimens  of  archi- 
tecture, and  it  is  a  great  pity  that  they  should  tlius  go  to  ruin.  Adherents 
of  the  old  religion  declare  that  the  government  had  at  one  time  deter- 


RESEMBLANCES  BETWEEN   EASTERN   AND   WESTERN  RELIGIONS.     14,7 

mined  to  issue  an  order  for  the  demolition  of  every  Buddhist  temple  in 
the  country,  and  only  refrained  from  so  doing  through  fear  that  it  would 
lead  to  a  revolution.  The  Shiba  temple  in  Tokio,  one  of  the  finest  in 
Japan,  was  burned  under  circumstances  that  led  many  persons  to  accuse 
the  government  of  having  had  a  hand  in  the  conflagration,  and  I  know 
there  are  foreigners  in  Tokio  and  Yokohama  who  openly  denounce  the 
authorities  for  the  occurrence. 

"  As  you  have  observed,  the  Buddhist  temples  contain  the  statue  of 
Buddha,  while  the  Shinto  temples  have  nothing  of  the  sort.  For  all 
practical  purposes,  you  may  compare  a  Buddhist  temple*  to  a  Catholic 
church,  with  its  statues  and  pictures  of  the  saints  ;  and  a  Shinto  temple  to 
a  Protestant  church,  with  its  bare  walls,  and  its  altar  with  no  ornament  of 
consequence.  The  Buddhists,  like  the  Catholics,  burn  a  great  deal  of  in- 
cense in  front  of  their  altars  and  before  their  statues;  but  the  Shintoists 
do  not  regard  the  burning  of  incense  as  at  all  necessary  to  salvation. 
Both  religions  have  an  excellent  code  of  morals ;  and  if  all  the  adherents 
of  either  should  do  as  they  are  told  by  their  sacred  teachers,  there  would 
not  be  much  wickedness  in  the  country.  As  for  that  matter,  there  is 
enough  of  moral  precept  in  nearly  every  religion  in  the  world  to  live  by, 
but  the  trouble  is  that  the  whole  world  will  not  live  as  it  should.  Bud- 
dhism is  more  than  five  hundred  years  older  than  Christianity.  The  old 
forms  of  Shiutoism  existed  before  Buddhism  was  brought  to  Japan  ;  but 
the  modern  is  so  much  changed  from  the  old  that  it  is  virtually,  as  I  told 
you,  a  reformation  of  Buddhism.  At  all  events,  that  was  the  form  which 
it  assumed  at  the  time  the  Shogoon's  government  was  overthrown. 

"  You  have  only  to  see  the  many  shrines  and  temples  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  to  know  how  thoroughly  religious  the  whole  population  is,  es- 
pecially when  you  observe  the  crowds  of  devout  worshippers  that  go  to 
the  temples  daily.  Every  village,  however  small  and  poor,  has  its  temple  ; 
and  wherever  you  go,  you  see  little  shrines  by  the  roadside  with  steps  lead- 
ing up  to  them.  They  are  invariably  in  the  most  picturesque  spots,  and 
always  in  a  situation  that  has  a  view  as  commanding  as  possible.  You 
saw  them  near  the  railway  as  we  came  here  from  Yokohama,  and  you  can 
hardly  go  a  mile  on  a  Japanese  road  without  seeing  one  of  them.  The 
Japanese  have  remembered  their  love  for  the  picturesque  in  arranging 
their  temples  and  shrines,  and  thus  have  made  them  attractive  to  the  great 
mass  of  the  people. 

"  Since  the  opening  of  Japan  to  foreigners,  the  missionaries  have  de- 
voted much  attention  to  the  country  as  a  field  of  labor.  Compared  with 
the  result  of  missionary  labors  in  India,  the  cause  has  prospered,  and  a 


us 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


A   WAT8IDE   SHRINE. 


great  deal  of  good  has  been  accomplished.  The  Japanese  are  not  an  un- 
thinking people,  and  their  faculties  of  analysis  are  very  keen.  They  show 
more  interest  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  than  do  the  Chinese  and 
some  other  Oriental  people,  and  are  quite  willing  to  discuss  them  when- 
ever they  are  properly  presented." 

The  discussion  came  to  an  end,  and  the  party  prepared  to  move  on. 
They  were  uncertain  where  to  go,  and,  after  a  little  time  spent  in  debate, 
the  Doctor  suggested  that  they  might  as  well  go  once  more  to  the  Nihon 
Bashi,  or  Central  Bridge,  and  enjoy  an  afternoon  view  of  the  river.  Off 
they  started,  and  in  due  time  were  at  the  famous  bridge,  and  in  the  midst 
of  the  active  life  that  goes  on  in  its  vicinity. 

The  view  up  and  down  the  river  was  an  animated  one.  Many  boats 
were  on  the  water,  some  of  them  lying  at  anchor,  or  tied  up  to  the  bank  ; 
while  others  were  slowly  threading  the  stream  in  one  way  and  another. 
The  banks  of  the  river  were  lined  with  gay  restaurants  and  other  places 
of -public  resort,  and  from  some  of  them  came  the  sounds  of  native  music, 
indicating  that  the  ^jatrons  were  enjoying  themselves.  The  great  moun- 
tain of  Japan  was  in  full  view,  and  was  a  more  welcome  sight  than  the 
crowds  of  beggars  that  lined  the  bridge  and  showed  altogether  too  much 
attention  to  the  strangers.  The  bridge  itself  is  not  the  magnificent  struct- 
ure that  one  might  expect  to  find  when  he  remembers  its  national  impor- 


AN  OFFICIAL  BULLETIN-BOARD.  149 

tance.  It  is  a  rickety  affair,  built  of  wood,  and  showing  signs  of  great  an- 
tiquity ;  and  its  back  rises  as  thougb  somebody,  had  attempted  to  lift  it  up 
by  pressing  his  slioulders  beneatli  and  had  nearly  succeeded  in  his  effort. 

Near  the  southern  end  of  the  bridge  the  boys  observed  something  like 
a  great  sign-board  with  a  railing  around  it,  and  a  roof  above  to  keep  the 
rain  from  injuring  the  placards  which  were  painted  beneath.  The  latter 
were  in  Japanese,  and,  of  course,  neither  Frank  nor  Fred  could  make  out 
their  meaning.  So  they  asked  the  Doctor  what  the  structure  was  for  and 
why  it  was  in  such  a  conspicuous  place.- 

"  That,"  answered  the  Doctor,  "  is  the  great  kosatsu." 

Frank  said  he  was  glad  to  know  it,  and  he  would  be  more  glad  when 
he  knew  what  the  kosatsu  was. 

"  The  kosatsu,"  continued  Doctor  Bronson,  "  is  the  sign-board  where  the 
official  notices  of  the  government  are  posted.  You  find  these  boards  in  all 
the  cities,  towns,  and  villages  of  Japan  ;  there  may  be  several  in  a  city, 
but  there  is  always  one  which  has  a  higher  character  than  the  rest,  and  is 
known  as  the  great  kosatsu.  The  one  you  are  now  looking  at  is  the  most 
celebrated  in  the  empire,  as  it  stands  near  the  Nihon  Bashi,  whence  all 
roads  are  measured,  as  I  have  already  explained  to  j^ou." 

"  Please,  Doctor,"  said  Frank,  "what  is  the  nature  of  the  notices  they 
put  on  the  sign-board  ?" 

"  Any  public  notice  or  law,  any  new  order  of  the  government,  a  regula- 
tion of  the  police,  appointments  of  officials ;  in  fact,  anything  that  would 
be  published  as  an  official  announcement  in  other  countries.  There  was 
formerly  an  edict  against  Christians  which  was  published  all  over  the  em- 
pire, and  was  on  all  the  kosatsus.  The  edict  appeared  on  the  kosatsu  of 
the  Nihon  Bashi  down  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Shogoon's  government, 
in  1868,  when  it  was  removed." 

"  And  what  was  the  edict  ?" 

"It  forbade  Christianity  in  these  words:  'The  evil  sect  called  Chris- 
tians is  strictly  prohibited.  Suspicious  persons  should  be  reported  to  the 
proper  officers,  and  rewards  will  be  given.'  Directly  under  this  edict  was 
another,  which  said,  '  Human  beings  must  carefully  practise  the  principles 
of  the  five  social  relations :  Charity  must  be  shown  to  widowers,  widows, 
orphans,  the  childless,  and  sick.  There  must  be  no  such  crimes  as  mur- 
der, arson,  or  robbery.'  Both  these  orders  were  dated  in  the  montli  of 
April,  1868,  and  consequently  are  not  matters  of  antiquity.  The  original 
edict  against  Christians  was  issued  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  was  never 
revoked.  St.  Francis  Xavier  and  his  zealous  comrades  had  introduced 
the  religion  of  Europe  into  Japan,  and  their  success  was  so  great  that  the 


150 


THE   BOY   TUAVELLERS. 


government  became  alarmed  for  its  safety.  They  found  proofs  that  the 
new  religionists  intended  to  subjugate  the  country  and  place  it  under  the 
dominion  of  Spain ;  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  and  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century  there  was  an  active  persecution  of  the  Chris- 
tians. Many  were  expelled  from  the  country,  many  more  were  executed, 
and  the  cause  of  Christianity  received  a  blow  from  which  it  did  not  recover 


now   CHILDREN  ARE  AMUSED. 


151 


until  our  day.     ]^ow  the  missionaries  are  at  liberty  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
and  may  make  as  many  converts  as  they  please." 

As  they  walked  away  from  the  kosatsu  they  saw  a  group  engaged  in 
the  childish  amusement  of  blowing  soap-bubbles.  There  were  three 
persons  in  the  group,  a  man  and  two  boys,  and  the  youngsters  were  as 
happy  as  American  or  English  boys  would  have  been  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances. While  the  man  blew  the  bubbles,  the  boys  danced  around 
him  and  endeavored  to  catch  the  shining  globes.  Fred  and  Frank  were 
much  interested  in  the  spectacle,  and  had  it  not  been  for  their  sense  of 
dignity,  and  the  manifest  impropriety  of  interfering,  they  would  have  join- 
ed in  the  sport.  The  players  were  poorly  clad,  and  evidently  did  not  be- 
long to  the  wealthier  class ;  but  they  were  as  happy  as  though  they  had 
been  princes ;  in  fact,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  princes  could  have  had  a  quarter 
as  much  enjoyment  from  the  chase  of  soap-bubbles. 


BLOWING   BUBBLES. 


Evening  was  approaching,  and  the  party  concluded  to  flefer  their  sight- 
seeing until  the  morrow.  They  returned  to  the  railway  station,  and  were 
just  in  time  to  catch  the  last  train  of  the  day  for  Yokohama.  There  was 
a  hotel  at  Tokio  on  the  European  system,  and  if  they  had  missed  the  train, 
they  would  have  patronized  this  establishment.  The  Doctor  had  spent  a 
week  there,  and  spoke  favorably  of  the  Sei-yo-ken,  as  the  hotel  is  called. 


152  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

It  is  kept  by  a  Japanese,  and  all  the  servants  are  natives,  but  they  manage 
to  meet  very  fairly  the  wants  of  the  strangers  that  go  there.  It  was  some 
time  after  the  opening  of  Tokio  to  foreigners  before  there  was  any  hotel 
there,  and  a  visitor  was  put  to  great  inconvenience.  He  was  compelled  to 
accept  the  hospitality  of  his  country's  representative.  As  he  generally  had 
no  personal  claims  to  such  hospitality,  he  was  virtually  an  intruder;  and  if 
at  all  sensitive  about  forcing  himself  where  he  had  no  business  to  go,  his 
position  could  not  be  otherwise  than  embarrassing.  The  American  minis- 
ters in  the  early  days  were  often  obliged  to  keep  free  boarding-houses,  and 
even  at  the  present  time  they  are  not  entirely  exempt  from  intrusions. 
Our  diplomatic  and  consular  representatives  abroad  are  the  victims  of  a 
vast  amount  of  polite  fraud,  and  some  very  impolite  frauds  in  addition. 
It  is  a  sad  thing  to  say,  but  nevertheless  true,  that  a  disagreeably  large 
proportion  of  travelling  Americans  in  distant  lands  make  pecuniary  raids 
on  the  purses  of  our  representatives  in  the  shape  of  loans,  which  they 
never  repay,  and  probably  never  intend  to.  Another  class  manages  to 
sponge  its  living  by  quartering  at  the  consular  or  diplomatic  residence, 
and  making  itself  as  much  at  home  as  though  it  owned  everything.  There 
are  many  consuls  in  Europe  and  Asia  who  dread  the  entrance  of  a  strange 
countryman  into  their  offices,  through  the  expectation,  born  of  bitter  ex- 
perience, that  the  introduction  is  to  be  followed  by  an  appeal  for  a  loan, 
which  is  in  reality  a  gift,  and  can  be  ill  afforded  by  the  poorly  paid  repre- 
sentative. 

The  next  day  the  party  returned  to  Tokio,  but,  unfortunately  for  their 
plans,  a  heavy  rain  set  in  and  kept  them  indoors.  Japanese  life  and 
mannei's  are  so  much  connected  with  the  open  air  that  a  rainy  day  does 
not  leave  much  opportunity  for  a  sight-seer  among  the  people.  Finding 
the  rain  was  likely  to  last  an  indefinite  period,  they  returned  to  the  hotel 
at  Yokohama.  The  boys  turned  their  attention  to  letter-writing,  while  the 
Doctor  busied  himself  with  preparations  for  an  excursion  to  Ilakone — a 
summer  resort  of  foreigners  in  Japan — and  possibly  an  ascent  of  Fusiyama. 
The  boys  greatly  wished  to  climb  the  famous  mountain  ;  and  as  the  Doctor 
had  never  made  the  journey,  he  was  quite  desirous  of  undertaking  it, 
though,  perhaps,  he  was  less  keen  than  his  young  companions,  as  he  knew 
it  could  only  be  accomplished  with  a  great  deal  of  fatigue. 

The  letters  were  devoted  to  descriptions  of  what  the  party  had  seen 
in  their  visit  to  Tokio,  and  they  had  a  goodly  number  of  comments  to 
make  on  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Japanese.  Frank  declared  that  he 
had  never  seen  a  more  polite  people  than  the  Japanese,  and  then  he  added 
that  he  had  never  seen  any  other  people  outside  of  his  own  country,  and 


A   TALE   OF  TAILLESS  CATS. 


153 


therefore  liis  judgment  miglit  not  be  worth  much.  Fred  had  been  greatly 
impressed  with  his  discovery  that  the  babies  of  Japan  do  not  cry,  and  he 
suggested  that  the  American  babies  would  do  well  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  barbarian  children.  Then,  too,  he  was  much  pleased  with  the  respect 
the  children  showed  for  their  parents,  and  he  thought  the  parents  were 
very  fond  of  their  children,  if  he  were  to  judge  by  the  great  number  of 
games  that  were  provided  for  the  amusement  of  the  little  folks.  He  de- 
scribed what  he  had  seen  in  the  temple  at  Asakusa,  and  in  other  parts  of 
Tokio,  and  enclosed  a  picture  of  a  Japanese  father  seated  with  his  children, 
the  one  in  his  arms,  and  the  other  clinging  to  his  knee,  and  forming  an  in- 
terestino^  scene. 


/ 1  A 

FATHKR    AND    CHILDREN. 


Frank  had  made  a  discovery  about  the  cats  of  Japan,  and  carefully 
recorded  it  in  his  letter  as  follows: 

"  There  are  the  funniest  cats  in  this  country  that  you  ever  saw.  They 
have  the  shortest  kind  of  tails,  and  a  good  many  of  them  haven't  any  tails 
at  all  any  more  than  a  rabbit.  You  know  we  expect  every  kitten  in 
America  to  play  with  her  tail,  and  what  can  she  do  when  she  has  no  tail 
to  play  with  ?     I  think  that  must  be  the  reason  why  the  Japanese  cats  are 


154  'I'HE  BOY'  TRAVELLERS. 

SO  solemn,  and  why  tliey  won't  play  as  our  cats  do.  I  have  tried  to  find 
out  how  it  all  happens,  but  nobody  can  tell.  Doctor  Bronson  says  the  kit- 
tens are  born  without  tails,  and  that  is  all  he  knows  about  it.  I  think  they 
must  be  a  different  kind  of  cat  from  ours ;  but,  apart  from  the  absence  of 
tails,  they  don't  look  any  way  dissimilar.  Somebody  says  that  an  American 
once  took  one  of  these  tailless  cats  to  San  Francisco  as  a  curiosity,  and 
that  it  would  never  make  friends  with  any  long-tailed  cat.  It  w^ould  spit 
and  scratch,  and  try  to  bite  off  the  other  cat's  tail ;  but  one  day,  when  they 
put  it  with  a  cat  whose  tail  had  been  cut  off  by  a  bad  boy,  it  was  friendly 
at  once." 

Fred  wanted  ever  so  much  to  send  home  a  goldfish  with  a  very  wide 
and  beautiful  tail.  The  fish  didn't  seem  to  be  much  unlike  a  common 
goldfish,  except  in  the  tail,  which  was  triple,  and  looked  like  a  piece  of 
lace.  As  it  swam  around  in  the  water,  especially  when  the  sun  was  shining 
on  the  globe,  its  tail  seemed  to  have  nearly  as  many  colors  as  the  rainbow, 
and  both  the  boys  were  of  opinion  that  no  more  beautiful  fish  was  ever 
seen.  But  the  proposal  to  send  it  to  America  was  rather  dampened  by 
the  statement  of  the  Doctor  that  the  experiment  had  been  tried  several 
times,  and  only  succeeded  in  a  very  few  instances.  Almost  all  the  fish 
died  on  the  voyage  over  the  Pacific ;  and  even  when  they  lived  through 
that  part  of  the  trip,  the  overland  journey  from  San  Francisco  to  the  At- 
lantic coast  generally  proved  too  much  for  them.  The  Japanese  name  for 
this  fish  is  kin-giyo,  and  a  pair  of  them  may  be  bought  for  ten  cents.  It 
is  said  that  a  thousand  dollars  were  offered  for  the  first  one  that  ever 
reached  New  York  alive,  which  is  a  large  advance  on  the  price  in  Yoko- 
hama. 

The  Japanese  dogs  were  also  objects  of  interest  to  our  young  friends, 
though  less  so  than  the  cats  and  the  goldfish.  They  have  several  varieties 
of  dogs  in  Japan,  some  of  them  being  quite  without  hair,  while  others 
have  very  thick  coats.  The  latter  are  the  most  highly  prized,  and  the 
shorter  their  noses,  the  more  valuable  they  are  considered.  Fred  found  a 
dog,  about  the  size  of  a  King  Charles  spaniel,  that  had  a  nose  only  half  an 
inch  long.  He  was  boasting  of  his  discovery,  when  Frank  pointed  out 
one  that  had  less  than  a  third  of  an  inch.  Then  the  two  kept  on  the  hunt 
for  the  latest  improvement  in  dogs,  as  Frank  expressed  it,  and  they  finally 
found  one  that  had  no  nose  at  all.  The  nostrils  were  set  directly  in  the 
end  of  the  little  fellow's  head,  and  his  under-jaw  was  so  short  that  the 
operations  of  barking  and  eating  were  not  very  easy  to  perform.  In  spite 
of  the  difficulty  of  barking,  he  made  a  great  deal  of  noise  when  the  boys 
attempted  to  examine  him,  and  he  gave  Frank  to  understand  in  the  most 


JAPANESE   UMBRELLAS. 


155 


practical  way  that  a  noseless  dog  can  bite.  As  they  walked  awa}'  from  the 
shop  where  they  found  him,  he  kept  up  a  continual  snarling,  which  led  to 
the  remark  by  Fred  that  a  noseless  dog  was  very  far  from  noiseless. 

As  they  had  been  kept  in  by  the  rain,  Frank  thought  he  could  n6t  do 
better  than  send  to  his  sister  a  Japanese  picture  of  a  party  caught  in  a 
rain-storm.  He  explained  that  the  rain  in  Japan  was  quite  as  wet  as  in  any 
other  country,  and  that  umbrellas  were  just  as  necessary  as  at  home.  He 
added  that  the  Japanese  umbrellas  were  made  of  paper,  and  kept  the  rain 
off  very  well,  but  they  did  not  last  a  long  time.  You  could  buy  one  for 
half  a  dollar,  and  a  very  pretty  one  it  was,  and  it  spread  out  farther  than 
the  foreign  umbrella  did.  Tlie  sticks  were  of  bamboo,  and  they  were 
covered  with  several  thicknesses  of  oiled  paper  carefully  dried  in  the  sun. 
They  were  very  much  used,  since  nearly  everybody  carried  an  umbrella, 
in  fair  weather  as  well  as  in  foul ;  if  the  umbrella  was  not  needed  against 
the  rain,  it  was  useful  to  keep  off  the  heat  of  the  sun,  which  was  very  se- 
vere in  the  middle  of  the  day. 

The  letters  were  ready  in  season  for  the  mail  for  America,  and  in  due 
time  they  reached  their  destination  and  carried  pleasure  to  several  hearts. 
It  was  evident  that  the  boys  were  enjoying  themselves,  and  at  the  same 
time  learning  much  about  the  strange  country  they  had  gone  to  see. 


CAUGHT    IN    THli    KAIN. 


156  'i'HE    BOY    TKAVELLEKS. 


CHAPTER  XL 

AN  EXCURSION   TO  DAI-BOOTS  AND  ENOSHIMA. 

A  FAVORITE  resort  of  tlie  foreign  residents  of  Yokohama  during 
the  summer  months  is  the  island  of  Enoshima.  It  is  about  twenty 
miles  away,  and  is  a  noted  place  of  pilgrimage  for  the  Japanese,  on  ac- 
count of  certain  shrines  that  are  reputed  to  have  a  sacred  character.  Doc- 
tor Bronson  arranged  that  his  party  should  pay  a  visit  to  this  island,  as  it 
was  an  interesting  spot,  and  they  could  have  a  glimpse  of  Japanese  life  in 
the  rural  districts,  and  among  the  fishermen  of  the  coast. 

They  went  thither  by  jin-riki-shas,  and  arranged  to  stop  on  the  way  to 
see  the  famous  bronze  statue  of  Dai-Boots,  or  the  Great  Buddha,  This 
statue  is  the  most  celebrated  in  all  Japan,  as  it  is  the  largest  and  finest  in 
every  way.  Frank  had  heard  and  read  about  it ;  and  when  he  learned 
from  the  Doctor  that  they  were  to  see  it  on  their  way  to  Enoshima,  he 
ran  straightway  to  Fred  to  tell  the  good  news. 

"  Just  think  of  it,  Fred,"  said  he,  "  we  are  to  see  a  statue  sixty  feet 
high,  all  of  solid  bronze,  and  a  very  old  one  it  is,  too." 

"  Sixty  feet  isn't  so  very  much,"  Fred  answered.  "  There  are  statues 
in  Europe  a  great  deal  larger," 

"  But  they  were  not  made  by  the  Japanese,  as  this  one  was,"  Frank 
responded,  "and  tliey  are  statues  of  figures  standing  erect,  while  this  rep- 
resents a  sitting  figure.  A  sitting  figure  sixty  feet  high  is  something  you 
don't  see  every  day." 

Fred  admitted  that  there  might  be  some  ground  for  Frank's  enthusi- 
asm, and,  in  fact,  he  was  not  long  in  sharing  it,  and  thinking  it  was  a  very 
good  thing  that  they  were  going  to  Enoshima,  and  intending  to  see  Dai- 
Boots  on  the  way. 

At  the  appointed  time  they  were  oflF.  They  went  through  the  foreign 
part  of  Yokohama,  and  through  the  native  quarter,  and  then  out  upon  the 
Tokaido.  The  boys  were  curious  to  see  tlie  Tokaido,  and  when  they 
reached  it  they  asked  the  Doctor  to  halt  the  jin-riki-shas,  and  let  them 
press  their  feet  upon  the  famous  work  of  Japanese  road-builders.     The 


JAl'ANESE  RURAL  SCENE— HULLING  RICE. 


157 


L'^;f"li'i"iri,' 


158  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

halt  was  made,  and  gave  a  few  minutes' rest  to  the  men  that  were  drawing 
them,  and  from  whose  faces  the  perspiration  was  running  profusely. 

The  Tokaido,  or  eastern  road,  is  the  great  highway  that  connects  Kioto 
with  Tokio — the  eastern  capital  with  the  western  one.  There  is  some  ob- 
scurity in  its  history,  but  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  antiquity.  It  has  been 
in  existence  some  hundreds  of  years,  and  has  witnessed  many  and  many  a 
princely  procession,  and  many  a  display  of  Oriental  magnificence.  It  was 
the  road  by  which  the  Daimios  of  the  western  part  of  the  empire  made 
their  journeys  to  Tokio  in  the  olden  days,  and  it  was  equally  the  route  by 
which  the  cortege  of  the  Shogoon  went  to  Kioto  to  render  homage  to  the 
Mikado.  It  is  a  well-made  road ;  but  as  it  was  built  before  the  days  of 
wheeled  carriages,  and  when  a  track  where  two  men  could  ride  abreast 
was  all  that  was  considered  requisite,  it  is  narrower  than  most  of  us  would* 
expect  to  find  it.  In  many  places  it  is  not  easy  for  two  carriages  to  pass 
without  turning  well  out  into  the  ditch,  and  there  are  places  on  the  great 
route  where  the  use  of  wheeled  vehicles  is  impossible.  But  in  spite  of 
these  drawbacks  it  is  a  fine  road,  and  abounds  in  interesting  sights. 

Naturall}'  the  Tokaido  is  a  place  of  activity,  and  in  the  ages  that  have 
elapsed  since  it  was  made  many  villages  have  sprung  into  existence  along 
its  sides.  Between  Yokohama  and  Tokio  there  is  an  almost  continuous 
hedge  of  these  villages,  and  there  are  places  where  you  may  ride  for  miles 
as  along  a  densely  filled  street.  From  Tokio  the  road  follows  the  shore 
of  the  bay  until  near  Yokohama,  when  it  turns  inland ;  but  it  comes  to 
or  near  the  sea  again  in  several  places,  and  affords  occasional  glimpses  of 
the  great  water.  For  several  years  after  the  admission  of  foreigners  to  Ja- 
pan the  Tokaido  gave  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  the  authorities,  and  figured 
repeatedly  in  the  diplomatic  history  of  the  government.  The  most  noted 
of  these  affairs  was  that  in  which  an  Englishman  named  Richardson  was 
killed,  and  the  government  was  forced  to  pay  a  heavy  indemnity  in  conse- 
quence. A  brief  history  of  this  affair  may  not  be  without  interest,  as  it 
will  illustrate  the  difficulties  that  arose  in  consequence  of  a  difference  of 
national  customs. 

Under  the  old  laws  of  Japan  it  was  the  custom  for  the  Daimios  to 
have  a  very  complete  right  of  M-ay  whenever  their  trains  were  out  upon 
the  Tokaido  or  any  other  road.  If  any  native  should  ride  or  walk  into  a 
Daimio's  procession,  or  even  attempt  anything  of  the  kind,  he  would  be 
put  to  death  immediately  by  the  attendants  of  the  prince.  This  was  the 
invariable  rule,  and  had  been  in  force  for  hundreds  of  years.  When  the 
foreigners  first  came  to  Yokohama,  the  Daimios'  processions  wei'e  fre- 
quently on  the  road ;  and,  as  the  strangers  had  the  right  to  go  into  the 


now   MR.  RICHARDSON   WAS  KILLED. 


159 


A    PARTY    ON    THE    TOKAIDO. 


country,  and  consequently  to  ride  on  the  Tokaido,  there  was  a  constant 
fear  that  some  of  them  would  ignorantly  or  wilfully  violate  the  ancient 
usages  and  thus  lead  the  Daimios'  followers  to  use  their  swords. 

Things  were  in  this  condition  when  one  day  (September  14tli,  1862) 
the  procession  of  Shimadzu  Saburo,  father  of  the  last  Daimio  of  Satsuraa, 
was  passing  along  the  Tokaido  on  its  way  from  the  capital  to  the  western 
part  of  the  empire.  Through  fear  of  trouble  in  case  of  an  encounter  with 
the  train  of  this  prince,  the  authorities  had  previously  requested  foreign- 
ers not  to  go  upon  the  Tokaido  that  day ;  but  the  request  was  refused,  and 
a  party  of  English  people — three  gentlemen  and  a  lady — embraced  the 
opportunity  to  go  out  that  particular  afternoon  to  meet  the  prince's  train. 
Two  American  gentlemen  were  out  that  afternoon,  and  encountered  the 
same  train  ;  they  politely  turned  aside  to  allow  the  procession  to  pass,  and 
were  not  disturbed. 

When  the  English  party  met  the  train,  the  lady  and  one  of  the  gentle- 
men suggested  that  they  should  stand  at  the  side  of  the  road,  but  Mr. 
Richardson  urged  his  horse  forward  and  said,  "  Come  on ;  I  have  lived 
fourteen  years  in  China,  and  know  how  to  manage  these  people."  He 
rode  into  the  midst  of  the  procession,  and  was  followed  by  the  other  gen- 
tlemen, or  partially  so  ;  the  lady,  in  her  terror,  remained  by  the  side  of  the 
road,  as  she  had  wished  to  do  at  the  outset.  The  guards  construed  the 
movements  of  Mr.  Richardson  as  a  direct  insult  to  their  master,  and  fell 
upon  him  with  their  swords.  The  three  men  were  severely  wounded. 
Mr.  Richardson  died  in  less  than  half  an  hour,  but  the  others  recovered. 
The  lady  was  not  harmed  in  any  way.     On  the  one  hand,  the  Japanese 


160  TIJE   BOY  TRAVKLLERS. 

were  a  proud,  liaughty  race  who  resented  an  insult  to  their  prince,  and 
punished  it  according  to  Japanese  law  and  custom.  On  the  other,  tlie 
foreigners  had  the  technical  riglit,  in  accordance  with  tlie  treaty,  to  go 
upon  the  Tokaido ;  but  they  offered  a  direct  insult  to  tl)e  people  in  wliose 
country  tliey  were,  and  openly  showed  their  contempt  for  tliem.  A  little 
forbearance,  and  a  willingness  to  avoid  trouble  by  refraining  from  visiting 
the  Tokaido,  as  requested  by  the  Japanese  authorities,  would  have  pre- 
vented the  sad  occurrence. 

As  a  result  of  this  affair,  the  Japanese  government  was  compelled  to 
pay  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling  to  the  family  of  Mr.  Richardson, 
or  submit  to  the  alternative  of  a  war  with  England.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  city  of  Kagoshima,  the  residence  of  the  Prince  of  Satsuma,  was  bom- 
barded, the  place  reduced  to  ashes,  forts,  palaces,  factories,  thrown  into 
ruins,  and  thousands  of  buildings  set  on  fire  by  the  shells  from  the  British 
fleet.  Three  steamers  belonging  to  the  Prince  of  Satsuma  were  captured, 
and  the  prince  was  further  compelled  to  pay  an  additional  indemnity  of 
twenty-five  thousand  pounds.  The  loss  of  life  in  the  affair  has  never  been 
made  known  by  the  Japanese,  but  it  is  certain  to  have  been  very  great. 
It  would  not  be  surprising  if  the  Japanese  should  entertain  curious  no- 
tions of  the  exact  character  af  the  Christian  religion,  when  such  acts  are 
perpetrated  by  the  nations  that  profess  it.  The  blessings  of  civilization 
have  been  wafted  to  them  in  large  proportion  from  the  muzzles  of  can- 
non ;  and  the  light  of  Western  diplomacy  has  been,  all  too  frequently,  from 
the  torch  of  the  incendiar3\ 

But  we  must  not  forget  our  boys  in  our  dissertation  on  the  history  of 
foreign  intervention  in  Japan.  In  fact,  they  were  not  forgotten  in  it,  as 
they  heard  the  story  from  the  Doctor's  lips,  and  heard  a  great  deal  more 
besides.  The  Doctor  summarized  his  opinion  of  the  way  the  Japanese 
had  been  treated  by  foreigners  somewhat  as  follows  : 

"  The  Japanese  had  been  exclusive  for  a  long  time,  and  wished  to  con- 
tinue so.  They  had  had  an  experience  of  foreign  relations  two  hundred 
years  ago,  and  the  result  had  well-nigh  cost  them  their  independence.  It 
was  unsatisfactory,  and  they  chose  to  shut  themselves  up  and  live  alone. 
If  we  wanted  to  shut  up  the  United  States,  and  admit  no  foreigners 
among  us,  we  should  consider  it  a  matter  of  great  rudeness  if  they  forced 
themselves  in,  and  threatened  to  bombard  us  when  we  refused  them  ad- 
mittance. We  were  the  first  to  poke  our  noses  into  Japan,  when  we  sent 
Commodore  Perry  here  with  a  fleet.  The  Japanese  tried  their  best  to 
induce  us  to  go  away  and  let  them  alone,  but  we  wouldn't  go.  We  stood 
there  with  the  copy  of  the  treaty  in  one  hand,  and  had  the  other  resting 


LORD   ELGIN   AND   THE   JAl^ANESE   COxMMISSIONERS. 


161 


ii 


162 


THE  BOY  TILA.VELLEKS. 


on  a  cannon  charged  to  the  muzzle  and  ready  to  fire.  We  said, '  Take  the 
one  or  the  other;  sign  a  treaty  of  peace  and  good-will  and  accept  the 
blessings  of  civilization,  or  we  will  blow  you  so  liigh  in  the  air  that  the 
pieces  won't  come  down  for  a  week.'  Japan  was  convinced  when  she 
saw  that  resistance  would  be  useless,  and  quite  against  her  wishes  she 
entered  the  family  of  nations.  We  opened  the  way  and  then  England 
followed,  and  then  came  the  other  nations.  We  have  done  less  robbing 
and  bullying  than  England  has,  in  our  intercourse  with  Japan,  and  the 
Japanese  like  us  better  in  consequence.  But  if  it  is  a  correct  principle 
that  no  man  should  be  disturbed  so  long  as  he  does  not  disturb  any  one 
else,  and  does  no  harm,  the  outside  nations  had  no  right  to  interfere  with 
Japan,  and  compel  her  to  open  her  territory  to  them," 

This  conversation  occurred  while  they  were  halted  under  some  ven- 
erable shade-trees  by  the  side  of  the  Tokaido,  and  were  looking  at  the 
people  that  passed.  Every  few  minutes  they  saw  groups  varying  from 
two  to  six  or  eight  persons,  very  thinly  clad,  and  having  the  appearance  of 
wayfarers  with  a  small  stock  of  money,  or  none  at  all.  The  Doctor  ex- 
plained that  these  men  were  pilgrims  on  their  way  to  holy  places — some 

of  them  were  doubtless  bound  for 
Enoshima,  some  for  Hakone,  and 
some  for  the  great  mountain 
M-liich  every  now  and  then  the 
turns  in  the  road  revealed  to  the 
eyes  of  the  travellei*s.  These  pil- 
gritnages  have  a  religious  charac- 
ter, and  are  made  by  thousands  of 
persons  every  year.  One  mem- 
ber of  a  party  usually  carries  a 
small  bell,  and  as  they  walk  along 
its  faint  tinkle  gives  notice  of 
their  religious  character,  and  prac- 
tically warns  others  that  they  are 
not  commercially  inclined,  as  they 
are  without  more  money  than  is 
actually  needed  for  the  purposes 
of  their  journey.  They  wear  broad  hats  to  protect  them  from  the  sun, 
and  their  garments,  usually  of  white  material,  are  stamped  with  mystic 
characters  to  symbolize  the  particular  divinity  in  whose  honor  the  journey 
is  made. 

Village  after  village  was  passed  by  our  young  adventurers  and  their 


PII.GKIMS    U.N    THI-,    KOAU. 


JAPANESE   HARVEST  SCENE.  163 

older  companion,  and  many  scenes  of  Japanese  domestic  life  were  un- 
folded to  their  eyes.  At  one  place  some  men  were  engaged  in  removing 
the  hulls  from  freshly  gathered  rice.  The  grain  was  in  large  tubs,  made 
of  a  section  of  a  tree  hollowed  out,  and  the  labor  was  performed  by  beating 
the  grain  with  huge  mallets.  The  process  was  necessarily  slow,  and  re- 
quired a  great  deal  of  patience.  This  mode  of  hulling  rice  has  been  in 
use  in  Japan  for  hundreds  of  years,  and  will  probably  continue  for  hun- 
dreds of  years  to  come  in  spite  of  the  improved  machinery  that  is  being 
introduced  by  foreigners.     Rice  is  the  principal  article  of  food  used  in 


THRESHING   GRAIN. 


Japan,  and  many  people  have  hardly  tasted  anything  else  in  the  whole 
course  of  their  lives.  The  opening  of  the  foreign  market  has  largely  in- 
creased the  cost  of  rice ;  and  in  this  way  the  entrance  of  Japan  into  the 
family  of  nations  has  brought  great  hardships  upon  the  laboring  classes. 
It  costs  three  times  as  much  for  a  poor  man  to  support  his  family  as  it  did 
before  the  advent  of  the  strangers,  and  there  has  not  been  a  corresponding 
advance  in  wages.  Life  for  the  coolie  was  bad  enough  under  the  old  form 
of  government,  and  he  had  much  to  complain  of.  His  condition  has  not 
been  bettered  by  the  new  order  of  thixigs,  according  to  the  observation 
of  impartial  foreigners  who  reside  in  Yokohama  and  other  of  the  open 
ports. 

About  ten  miles  out  from  Yokohama  the  party  turned  from  the  To- 
kaido,  and  took  a  route  through  the  fields.  They  found  the  track  rather 
narrow  in  places ;  and  on  one  occasion,  when  they  met  a  party  in  jin-riki- 
shas,  it  became  necessary  to  step  to  the  ground  to  allow  the  vehicles  to  be 
lifted  around.  Then,  too,  there  had  been  a  heavy  rain — the  storm  that 
cut  short  their  visit  to  Tokio ;  and  in  some  places  the  road  had  been 


164 


THE    BOY    TRAVELLEUS. 


washed  out  so  that  tliey  were  obliged  to  walk  around  the  breaks.  Their 
journey  Avas  oonseqijently  somewhat  retarded;  but  they  did  not  inind 
the  detestien,  and  had  taken  such  an  early  start  that  they  had  plenty  of 
time  to  reach  Enosliima  before  dark.  They  met  groups  of  Japanese  peas- 
ants returning  home  from  their  work ;  and  in  every  instance  the  latter 
made  way  for  the  strangers,  and  stood  politely  by  the  roadside  as  the  man- 
power carriages  went  rolling  by.  Frank  wanted  to  make  sketches  of  some 
of  the  groups,  and  was  particularly  attracted  by  a  woman  who  was  carry- 
ing a  teapot  in  one  hand  and  a  small  roll  or  bundle  under  her  other  arm. 

By  lier  side  walked  a  man 
carrying  a  couple  of  buck- 
ets slung  from  a  pole,  after 
the  fashion  so  prevalent 
in  Japan  and  China.  He 
steadied  the  pole  with  his 
hands,  and  seemed  quite  in- 
different to  the  presence  of 
the  foreigners.  Both  were 
dressed  in  loosely  fitting 
garments,  and  their  feet 
were  shod  with  sandals  of 
straw.  The  Japanese  san- 
dal is  held  in  place  by  two 
thongs  that  start  from  near 
the  heel  on  each  side  and 
come  together  in  front. 
The  wearer  inserts  the 
thong  between  the  great 
toe  and  its  neighbor.  When 
he  is  barefooted  this  oper- 
ation is  easily  performed ; 
and,  in  order  to  accommo- 
date his  stockinged  feet  to 
the  sandal,  the  Japanese 
stocking  has  a  separate  place  for  the  "  thumb-toe,"  as  one  of  them  called 
the  largest  of  his  "  foot-fingers."  The  foot  of  the  Japanese  stocking  closely 
resembles  the  mitten  of  America,  which  young  women  in  certain  locali- 
ties are  said  to  present  to  discarded  admirers. 

The  road  wound  among  the  fields  where  the  rice  was  growing  luxu- 
riantly, and  where  now  and  then  they  found  beans  and  millet,  and  other 


rKASAM    AND    HIS    WIFE    KETURMINO    FROM    THE    FIELD. 


RURAL  SCKNERY  IN  JAPAN. 


1G5 


A    JAPANESK    SANDAL. 


products  of  Japanese  agriculture.  The 
cultivation  was  evidently  of  the  most 
careful  diameter,  as  the  fields  were  cut 
liere  and  there  with  little  channels  for 
irrigation  ;  and  there  were  frequent  de- 
posits of  fertilizing  materials,  whose  char- 
acter was  apparent  to  the  nose  before  it 
was  to  the  ej'e.     In  some  places,  where 

the  laborers  were  stooping  to  weed  the  plants,  there  was  little  more  of  them 
visible  than  their  broad  sun-hats  ;  and  it  did  not  require  a' great  stretch  of 
the  imasrination  to  believe  thev  were  a  new  kind  of  mushroom  from  Brob- 
dingnagian  gardens.  Hills  like  sharply  rounded  cones  rose  from  each  side 
of  the  narrow  valley  they  were  descending ;  and  the  dense  growth  of  wood 
with  which  the  most  of  them  were  covered  njade  a  marked  contrast  to. 
the  thoroughly  cleared  fields.  The  boys  saw  over,  and  over,  and  over  again 
the  pictures  they  had  often  seen  on  Japanese  fans  and  boxes  and  won- 
dered if  they  were  realities.  They  had  already  learned  that  the  appar- 
ently impossible  pictures  we  find  in  Japanese'art  are  not  only  possible, 
but  actual ;  but  they  had  not  yet  seen  so  thorough  a  confirmation  of  it  as 
on  this  day's  ride. 

Several  times  they  came  suddenly  upon  villages,  and  very  often  these 
discoveries  were  quite  unexpected.  As  they  rode  along  tlie  valley  nar- 
rowed, and  the  hills  became  larger  and  more  densely  covered  with  trees. 
By-and-by  they  halted  at  a  wayside  tea-house,  and  were  told  to  leave  the 
little  carriages  and  rest  awhile.  Frank  protested  that  he  was  not  in  need 
of  an}'  rest ;  but  he  changed  his  mind  when  the  Doctor  told  him  that  they 
had  reached  one  of  the  objects  of  their  journey,  and  that  he  would  miss 
an  interesting  sight  if  he  kept  on.  They  were  at  the  shrine  of  Dai- 
Boots. 

They  went  up  an  avenue  between  two  rows  of  trees,  and  right  before 
them  was  the  famous  statue.     It  was  indeed  a  grand  work  of  art. 

Frank  made  a  careful  note  of  the  figures  indicating  the  height  of  the 
statue.  He  found  that  the  whole  structure,  including  the  pedestal,  meas- 
ured sixty  feet  from  the  ground  to  the  top  of  the  head,  and  that  the  figure 
alone  was  forty-three  feet  high.  It  was  in  a  sitting,  or  rather  a  squat- 
ting, posture,  with  the  hands  partly  folded  and  turned  upwards,  with  tlie 
knuckles  touching  each  other.  The  eyes  were  closed,  and  there  was  an 
expression  of  calm  repose  on  the  features  such  as  one  rarely  sees  in  statu- 
ary. There  was  something  very  grand  and  impressive  in  this  towering 
statue,  and  the  boys  gazed  upon  it  with  unfeigned  admiration. 


166 


THE   BOY   TRAVKLLEllS. 


THK    GREAl     I'M 


Fred  asked  if  the  statue  was  cast  in  a  single  piece.  But  after  asking 
the  question,  lie  looked  up  and  saw  that  the  work  was  evidently  done  in 
sections,  as  the  lines  where  the  plates  or  sections  were  joined  were  plainly 
visible.  But  the  plates  were  large,  and  the  operation  of  making  the  statue 
was  one  that  required  the  handling  of  some  very  heavy  pieces.     In  many 


A  DISAGREEABLE  PASSAGE.  167 

places  the  statue  was  covered  with  inscriptions,  which  are  said  to  be  of  a 
religious  character. 

The  figure  was  hollow,  and  there  was  a  sort  of  chapel  inside  where  de- 
vout pilgrims  were  permitted  to  worship.  On  the  platform  in  front  there 
were  several  shrines,  and  the  general  surroundings  of  the  place  were  well 
calculated  to  remind  one  of  a  sanctuary  of  Roman  Catholicism.  Thou- 
sands and  thousands  of  pilgrims  have  come  from  all  parts  of  Japan  to 
worship  at  the  feet  of  the  great  Buddha;  and  while  our  friends  stood  in 
front  of  the  shrine,  a  group  of  devotees  arrived  and  reverently  said  their 
prayers. 

A  little  way  off  from  Dai-Boots  are  the  temples  of  Kamakura,  which 
are  celebrated  for  their  sanctity,  and  are  the  objects  of  much  veneration. 
They  are  not  unlike  the  other  temples  of  Japan  in  general  appearance ; 
but  the  carvings  and  bronze  ornamentations  are.  unusually  rich,  and  must 
have  cost  a  great  deal  of  money.  There  was  once  a  large  city  at  Kama- 
kura, and  traces  of  it  are  distinctly  visible.  The  approach  to  the  temples 
is  over  some  stone  bridges,  crossing  a  moat  that  must  have  been  a  formi- 
dable defence  in  the  days  before  gunpowder  was  introduced  into  warfare. 

After  their  sight-seeing  in  the  grove  of  Dai-Boots  was  over,  the  party 
proceeded  to  Enoshima.  When  they  arrived  at  the  sea-shore  opposite  the 
island,  they  found,  to  their  dismay,  that  the  tide  was  up;  and  they  were 
obliged  to  hire  a  boat  to  take  them  to  their  destination.  At  low  tide  one 
can  walk  upon  a  sand-bar  the  entire  distance ;  but  when  the  sea  is  at  its 
highest,  the  bar  is  covered,  and  walking  is  not  practicable.  The  beach 
slopes  very  gradually,  and  consequently  the  boats  were  at  some  distance 
out,  and  the  travellers  were  compelled  to  wade  to  them  or  be  carried  on 
men's  shoulders.  The  boys  tried  the  evading,  and  were  successful ;  the 
Doctor,  more  dignified,  was  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  a  stout  Japanese, 
•who  was  very  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  earn  a  few  pennies.  But  he 
came  near  having  a  misadventure,  as  his  bearer  stumbled  when  close  to 
the  edge  of  the  boat,  and  pitched  the  Doctor  headlong  into  the  craft.  He 
was  landed  among  a  lot  of  baskets  and  other  baggage,  and  his  hat  came  in 
unpleasant  contact  with  a  bucket  containing  some  freshly  caught  fish. 
Luckily  he  suffered  no  injury,  and  was  able  to  join  the  others  in  laughing 
over  the  incident. 

On  their  arrival  at  the  island,  it  was  again  necessary  to  wade  to  the 
shore.  Frank  found  the  slippery  rocks  such  insecure  footing  that  he  went 
down  into  the  water,  but  was  not  completely  immersed.  The  others  got 
ashore  safely,  and  it  was  unanimously  voted  that  the  next  time  they  came 
to  Enoshima  they  would  endeavor  to  arrive  when  the  tide  was  out.    An 


168 


THE   BOY   TllAVELLKRS. 


involuntary  bath,  before  one  is  properly  dressed,  or  undressed,  for  it,  is  no 
more  to  be  desired  in  Japan  than  in  any  other  country. 

A  street  leads  up  from  the  water  towards  the  centre  of  the  island,  and 
along  this  stieet  are  the  principal  houses  of  the  town.  The  most  of  these 
houses  ai'e  hotels  for  the  accommodation  of  the  numerous  pilgrims  that 
come  to  the  sacred  shrines  of  Enoshinia ;  and,  as  our  party  approached, 

there  was  a  movement  among  the  attendants 
of  the  nearest  hostelry  to  invite  the  strangers 
to  enter.  They  halted  at  the  door  of  a  large 
building  on  the  left.  The  proprietor  was  just 
inside  the  entrance,  and  bowed  to  them  in 
true  Japanese  style,  with  his  head  touching 
the  floor.  He  not  only  bowed  to  the  party 
in  general,  but  to  each  one  of  them  separately, 
and  it  took  two  or  three  minutes  to  go  through 
with  the  preliminaries  of  politeness  and  begin  negotiations  for  the  desired 
accommodations. 

In  a  little  while  all  was  arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody  con- 
cerned, and  our  friends  were  installed  in  a  Japanese  inn.  What  they  did 
there,  and  what  they  saw,  will  be  made  known  in  the  next  chapter. 


8ALCTATION    OF    THE    LANDLtMlD. 


TUK    HEAD    WAITER   RECEIVING    ORDERS. 


INTERIOR  OF  A  JAPANESE  HOTEL.  169 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SIGHTS   AT   ENOSHIMA. 

THE  party  was  shown  to  a  large  room  at  the  rear  of  tlie  house.  Frank 
suggested  that  a  front  room  would  be  preferable;  but  the  Doctor 
told  him  that  in  a  Japanese  hotel  the  rear  of  the  establishment  was  the 
place  of  honor,  and  that  in  a  hundred  hotels  of  the  true  national  type  he 
would  probably  not  be  located  half  a  dozen  times  in  a  front  apartment. 
The  room  where  they  were  was  very  speedily  divided  into  three  smaller 
ones  by  means  of  paper  screens,  such  as  we  find  in  every  Japanese  house, 
and  which  are  known  to  most  Americans  in  consequence  of  the  large  num- 
ber that  have  been  imported  in  the  last  few  years.  They  can  be  shifted 
with  the  rapidity  of  scenes  in  a  theatre,  and  the  promptness  with  which 
the  whole  appearance  of  a  house  can  be  changed  in  a  few  minutes  is  an 
approach  to  the  marvellous. 

There  is  very  little  of  what  we  call  privacy  in  a  Japanese  house,  as  the 
paper  screens  are  no  obstructors  of  sound,  and  a  conversation  in  an  ordi- 
nary tone  can  be  heard  throughout  the  entire  establishment.  It  is  said 
that  this  form  of  building  was  adopted  at  a  time  when. the  government 
was  very  fearful  of  conspiracies,  and  wished  to  keep  everybody  under  its 
supervision.  Down  to  quite  recent  times  there  was  a  very  complete  sys- 
tem of  espionage  all  over  the  country ;  and  it  used  to  be  said  that  whe?i 
three  persons  were  together,  one  of  them  was  certain  to  be  a  spy,  and  the 
other  two  were  pretty  sure  to  be  spies  as  well.  At  the  time  Commodore 
Perry  went  to  Japan,  it  was  the  custom  to  set  a  spy  over  every  official  to 
observe  what  he  did  and  report  accordingly.  The  system  has  been  gradu- 
ally dropped,  but  it  is  said  to  exist  yet  in  some  quarters. 

It  was  rather  late,  and  our  party  were  hungry.  Consequently  the  Doc- 
tor ordered  dinner  to  be  served  as  soon  as  possible,  and  they  sat  down  to 
wait  for  it.  The  kitchen  was  near  the  entrance  of  the  hotel,  and  in  full 
view  of  the  strangers  as  they  came  in.  Fred  could  not  help  contrasting 
this  arrangement  with  that  of  an  American  hotel,  where  the  kitchen  is 
quite  out  of  sight,  and  not  one  visitor  in  a  thousand  ever  gets  the  faintest 


170 


TlIK   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


glimpse  of  it.  lie  thought  the  plan  was  well  calculated  to  insure  cleanli- 
ness in  the  management  of  the  house,  since  the  kitchen,  being  so  promi- 
nently placed,  would  ruin  the  prosperity  of  the  house  if  it  were  not  prop- 
erly kept.  As  there  seemed  to  be  no  objection  to  their  doing  so,  the  boys 
went  there  and  watched  the  preparation  of  the  meal  for  which  their  ap- 
petites were  waiting. 

They  foimd  a  large  and  well -lighted  room  in  the  centre  of  the 
house ;  and,  as  before  stated,  near  the  entrance.  In  the  middle  of  this 
room  there  was  a  raised  platform,  with  some  little  furnaces  set  in  the  floor. 
On  this  floor  the  cooking  of  some  tish  was  going  on  under  the  supervision 
of  a  woman,  who  was  watching  to  see  that  everything  progressed  satisfac- 
torily.    A  few  pots  and  pans  were  visible,  but  not  a  tenth  of  the  number 


A    JAPANESU    KITCHEN. 


that  would  be  found  in  the  kitchen  of  a  hotel  of  similar  capacity  in  Amer- 
ica. The  Japanese  cookery  is  not  elaborate,  and  therefore  only  a  few 
articles  are  required  for  it.  A  small  fire  in  a  brazier  that  could  be  carried 
in  the  hand  is  all  that  is  needed  to  offset  the  enormous  ranges  with  which 
we  are  familiar.  From  the  roof  two  or  three  safes  are  hung  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  such  things  as  the  dogs  and  cats  might  take  a  fancy  to.  At 
first  glance  they  are  frequently  taken  for  bird-cages,  and  this  mistake  was 
made  by  Fred,  who  innocently  remarked  that  he  wondered  what  kind  of 
birds  they  kept  there. 

At  one  side  of  the  kitchen  there  was  a  long  table,  where  the  food  was 


DINNER  AT  ENOSHIMA. 


171 


prepared  previous  to  its  introduction  to  the  cooking-pot,  and  near  this 
table  there  was  a  series  of  shelves  where  the  plates,  cups,  saucers,  and 
other  articles  of  the  dinner- 
service  were  kept.  The 
kitchen  could  be  shut  off  at 
night,  like  the  other  rooms, 
by  means  of  paper  screens, 
and  it  was  here  that  the 
cook  and  her  assistants  slept 
when  the  labors  of  the  day 
were  over.  The  bedding, 
w^hat  little  there  was  of  it, 
was  brought  from  a  cup- 
board in  one  side  of  the 
room,  and  was  altogether 
out  of  sight  in  the  day. 
"When  not  wanted,  it  was 
speedily  put  away,  and  a 
few  minutes  sufficed  to 
convert  the  kitchen  into  a 
sleeping-room,  or  the  sleep- 
ing-room into  a  kitchen. 

In  due  time  the  dinner 
or  supper,  whichever  it  was  called,  was  brought  to  our  travellers,  and  they 
lost  no  time  in  sitting  down  to  eat  it ;  or,  rather,  they  squatted  to  it,  as  the 
hotel  contained  no  chairs,  or  any  substitute  for  them.  The  floor  was  cov- 
ered with  clean  mats — in  fact,  it  is  very  ditficult  to  find  dirty  mats  in  Ja- 
pan— and  our  travellers  had  followed  the  universal  custom  of  removing 
their  boots  as  they  entered  the  front  door.  One  of  the  comj)laints  that 
the  Japanese  make  against  foreigners  is  that  the  latter  often  enter  their 
houses  without  removing  their  boots,  no  matter  if  those  boots  are  covered 
wnth  mud  and  bring  ruin  to  the  neat  mattings.  It  is  always  polite  to 
offer  to  remove  your  foot-covering  on  going  inside  a  Japanese  dwelling, 
and  a  rudeness  to  neglect  the  offer.  If  the  weather  is  dry  and  your  shoes 
are  clean,  the  host  will  tell  you  to  remain  as  you  are,  and  then  you  will 
be  (piite  right  to  do  so. 

There  was  a  laugh  all  around  at  the  oddity  of  the  situation  in  which 
the  boys  found  themselves.  They  tried  various  positions  in  front  of  the 
little  table  that  had  been  spread  for  them,  but  no  attitude  they  could  as- 
sume was  thoroughly  comfortable.     They  squatted,  they  knelt,  and  then 


BOILING    THE    POT. 


172 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


they  sat  flat  on  the  floor,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  They  were  uncomfort- 
able, and  no  mistake.  But  they  had  a  merry  time  of  it,  and  both  Fred 
and  Frank  declared  they  would  not  have  missed  this  dinner  in  Japan  for 
a  great  deal.  It  was  a  novelty,  and  they  thought  their  schoolmates  would 
envy  them  if  they  knew  where  they  were. 

The  dinner  consisted  of  stewed  flsh  for  the  first  course,  and  it  M'as  so 
thoroughly  stewed  that  it  resembled  a  thick  soup.  Then  the}'  had  cold 
flsh  with  grated  radishes,  and,  finally,  a  composite  dish  of  hard-boiled  eggs, 
cut  in  two,  and  mixed  with  shrimps  and  seaweed.  The  table  was  cleared 
after  each  course  before  the  next  was  brought,  and  the  food  was  served  in 
shallow  bowls,  which  were  covered  to  retain  the  heat.  At  the  side  of  each 
person  at  table  there  were  two  cups.  One  of  these  contained  «oy,  a  sort 
of  vinegar  flavored  with  spices  of  different  kinds,  and  in  which  eacli 
mouthful  of  food  was  dipped  before  it  was  swallowed.  It  is  said  that  our 
word  "sauce"  comes  from  the  Japanese  (or  Chinese)  word  wliich  has  just 

been  quoted.  The  other  cup  was  for 
sa-kee,  a  beverage  which  has  been 
already  mentioned  in  the  pages  of 
this  book.  They  were  not  inclined 
to  sa-kee ;  but  the  soy  was  to  their 
taste,  and  Frank  was  especially  warm 
in  its  praise. 

Not  liking  sa-kee,  the}'^  called  for 
tea,  and  in  a  moment  the  servant  ap- 
peared with  a  steaming  teapot.  The 
flavor  of  the  herb  was  delicious,  and 
the  boys  partook  liberally  of  the 
preparation.  While  they  were  en- 
gaged in  tea-drinking,  Fj-ank  made 
an  inventory  of  the  furniture  of  the 
room  for  the  benefit  of  his  sister  and 
Miss  Effie,  in  case  they  should  wish 
to  fit  up  a  room  in  Japanese  style 
to  welcome  him  home.  Here  is 
what  he  found : 
No  chairs,  no  sofas,  no  benches — nothing  but  the  rush  matting  to  sit 
upon. 

Ko  clocks,  no  pictures  on  the  walls,  no  mirrors ;  in  fact,  the  room  was 
quite  bare  of  ornament. 

Two  small  tables,  about  twelve  inches  high  and  fifteen  inches  square. 


Frank's  invkntory. 


A  JAPANESE  SLEEPING-ROOM. 


173 


These  tables  held  the  dinner  and  tea  service,  and  were  removed  when  the 
meal  was  over. 

A  little  low  stool,  on  which  was  a  broad  and  very  flat  pot  for  holding 
hot  water  to  put  in  the  tea. 

Another  stool  for  holding  anything  that  was  not  wanted  at  the  mo- 
ment. 

A  lamp-stand  with  three  lamps.  One  was  octagonal,  and  on  the  top 
of  an  upright  stick ;  the  others  were  oval,  and  hung  at  the  ends  of  a  hori- 
zontal bar  cff  metal.  Each  lantern  bore  an  inscription  in  Japanese.  It  was 
painted  on  the  paper  of  which  all  the  lanterns  were  composed ;  and  as  the 
light  shone  through,  the  letters  were  plainly  to  be  seen.  They  were  more 
visible  tlian  readable  to  our  friends,  as  may  be  readily  inferred. 

This  completed  the  furniture  of  the  room.  When  it  was  removed  after 
dinner,  Frank  remarked  that  the  only  furniture  remaining  was  Doctor 
Bronson,  Fred,  and  himself.  And,  as  they  were  quite  weary  after  their 
I'ide,  they  were  disposed  to  be  as  quiet  as  well-regulated  furniture  usu- 
al 1}^  is. 

When  it  was  time  to  go  to  sleep,  the  servant  was  called  and  the  beds 
were  made  up.  A  thickly 
wadded  quilt  was  spread 
on  the  floor  for  each  per- 
son, and  anotlier  was  used 
for  the  covering.  The 
quilt  was  not  quite  thick 
enough  to  take  away  all 
suggestion  of  hardness 
from  the  floor,  and  the 
covering  was  not  the 
most  convenient  one  in 
the  world.  Frank  said 
that  wlien  the  quilt  was 
over  him,  he  was  alto- 
gether too  warm,  and 
when  it  was  off  he  was 


HOW    THE    JAPANESE    SLEEP. 


too  cold.     Fred  declared 

that  his  experience  was  exactly  like  that  of  Frank,  except  that  it  was  more 
so.  He  had  been  bitten  by  fleas  during  the  night,  and,  as  he  couldn't 
speak  Japanese,  he  could  not  tell  them  to  go  away — at  least,  not  in  any 
language  they  would  understand.  Then  the  walls  of  the  room  were 
thin,  or,  rather,  there  were  no  walls  at  all.     They  had  heard  all  the  noises 


174  liAIi    BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

that  the  house  afforded;  and,  as  pilgrims  were  coining  and  going  all 
night,  and  some  of  those  in  the  building  were  engaged  in  a  noisy  game 
of  an  unknown  character,  sleep  was  not  easy.  The  boys  were  more  weary 
after  their  night's  rest  than  before  they  took  it,  and  they  agreed  that  they 
could  not  recommend  a  Japanese  inn  as  the  most  quiet  spot  in  the  world. 
They  rose  very  early,  and  would  have  been  up  much  sooner  if  there  had 
been  auy  way  of  getting  up. 

They  went  down  to  the  water-side  to  try  the  effects  of  a  bath  in  the 
surf  as  it  rolled  in  from  the  Pacific  Ocean.  They  found  it  refreshing,  and 
were  tempted  to  linger  long  in  the  foam-crested  waves.  Near  by  there 
was  a  fishing-place,  where  several  Japanese  were  amusing  themselves  with 
rod  and  line,  just  as  American  boys  and  men  take  pleasure  in  the  same 
way.  Fish  seemed  to  be  abundant,  as  they  were  biting  freely,  and  it  took 
but  a  short  time  to  fill  a  basket.  In  the  little  harbor  formed  between  the 
island  and  the  shore  several  junks  and  boats  were  at  anchor,  and  in  the 
foreground  some  smaller  boats  were  moving  about.  There  was  not  an 
American  feature  to  the  scene,  and  the  boys  were  thoroughly  delighted 
at  this  perfect  picture  of  Japanese  life.  It  was  sea-life,  too ;  and  they  had 
island  and  main,  water  and  mountain,  boats  and  liouses,  all  in  a  single 
glance. 

The  Japanese  are  great  lovers  of  fish,  and,  fortunately  for  them,  the 
coasts  and  bays  which  indent  the  country  are  well  provided  with  finny 
life.  The  markets  of  Yokohama,  Tokio,  Osaka,  and  all  the  other  great 
cities  of  Japan  are  well  supplied  with  fish,  and  the  business  of  catching 
them  gives  occupation  to  thousands  of  men.  Many  of  the  Japanese  are 
fond  of  raw  fish  which  has  been  killed  at  the  table,  and  is  to  be  eaten 
immediately.  The  fish  is  brought  alive  to  tlie  table;  its  eyes  are  then 
gouged  out,  and  strong  vinegar  is  poured  into  the  sockets.  The  epicures 
say  that  this  process  gives  a  delicate  flavor  that  can  be  obtained  in  no 
other  way ;  and  they  argue  that  the  fish  does  not  suffer  any  more  in  this 
form  of  death  than  by  the  ordinary  process  of  taking  him  out  of  the 
w^ater.  But  since  the  advent  of  foreigners  in  Japan,  the  custom  has  sonie- 
what  fallen  off,  as  the  Japanese  are  quite  sensitive  to  the  comments  that 
have  been  made  concerning  their  cruelty. 

In  the  interior  of  Japan  a  traveller  on  the  great  roads,  and  on  the 
smaller  ones  too,  will  sometimes  see  a  runner  carrying  a  couple  of  open 
pans,  slung  at  the  ends  of  a  pole  over  his  shoulder.  He  will  observe  that 
these  pans  contain  water,  and  that  there  is  a  single  fish  in  each  pan.  The 
man  goes  at  a  rapid  pace,  and  keeps  his  eyes  on  his  burden,  to  make  sure 
that  the  water  is  not  spilled. 


VIEW  AT  EN03U1MA. 


175 


176 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


These  runners  are  in  the  employ  of  the  men  who  supply  live  fish  for 
the  tables  of  those  who  live  at  a  distance  from  the  sea  or  from  the  lakes, 
and  are  willing  to  pay  for  the  luxury.  A  runner  stands  waiting,  and  the 
instant  the  lish  is  in  his  charge  he  is  off.  If  the  distance  is  great,  there 
are  relays  of  men  stationed  along  the  route;  and  so  the  precious  merchan- 
dise goes  forward  from  one  to  the  other  without  a  moment's  delay.  Only 
the  wealthy  can  afford  this  mode  of  transporting  fish,  as  the  cost  is  often 
very  heavy.'  Some  of  the  princes,  in  the  olden  time,  were  in  the  habit  of 
eating  fresh  fish  at  their  tables  every  day  that  had  been  brought  in  this 
way  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Great  quantities  of  fish  are  still  car- 
ried in  this  primitive  manner,  but  not  for  such  long  distances  as  formerly. 
Many  fish  are  transported  on  horseback,  in  barrels  of  water ;  but  the  most 
delicate  and  valuable  are  borne  only  on  the  shoulders  of  men,  as  the  jolt- 
ing of  a  horse  will  soon  kill  them. 

After  their  bath,  the  boys  returned  with  the  Doctor  to  their  breakfast 
in  the  hotel.     The  breakfast  was  almost  identical  with  the  dinner  of  the 

previous  evening ;  and  as  their 
appetites  were  not  set  so  sharp- 
ly, the  consumption  of  food  was 
not  so  great.  After  breakfast 
they  went  on  a  stroll  through 
the  streets  of  the  town  and  up 
the  sharp  hill  where  it  is  built. 
The  shops  along  the  streets 
were  filled  with  curiosities, 
made  principally  from  shells 
and  other  marine  products ; 
and  the  Doctor  said  he  was 
forcibly  reminded  of  !N"aples, 
Genoa,  and  other  seaport 
places  along  the  Mediterra- 
nean. Tiiere  were  numerous 
conch  -  shells  ;  and  Fred  was 
desirous  of  blowing  them,  un- 
til told  by  the  Doctor  that 
they  had  probably  been  blown 
by  many  of  the  Japanese  pilgrims,  and  he  would  run  the  risk  of  con- 
tracting some  troublesome  disease  which  had  been  left  from  the  sores 
oh  their  lips.  So  the  boys  were  cautious,  and  politely  rejected  the 
invitation  of  the  dealers  to  make  a  trial  of  the  sonorous  qualities  of  their 


BREAKFAST   IS   READY. 


JAPANESE   TEA-HOUSES.  177 

wares.     They  bonglit  a  few  small  shells  and  some  pieces  of  shell  jewelry, 
which  would  be  sure  to  please  the  girls  at  home. 

There  are  several  small  temples  and  shrines  on  the  island,  and  the 
most  of  them  are  in  picturesque  spots  in  the  forest,  or  on  crags  that  over- 
look the  sea.  As  tliey  walked  about  they  met  parties  of  pilgrims  on  their 
way  to  these  shrines ;  and  on  the  summit  they  found  a  shaded  resting- 
place,  where  some  chairs  had  been  set  out  on  a  cliff  overlooking  the  broad 
waters  of  the  Pacific.  Two  or  three  servants  were  in  attendance,  and  our 
party  thought  they  could  not  do  better  than  stop  awhile  and  sip  some  of 
the  fragrant  tea  of  Japan.  So  they  sat  down,  and  in  a  few  moments  the 
tea  was  before  them.  The  tea-house  was  not  a  large  one,  and,  as  Frank 
expressed  it,  the  most  of  the  house  was  out  of  doors  and  under  the  shade 
of  the  trees. 

As  every  one  knows  who  has  read  about  the  country,  Japan  contains 
a  great  many  tea-houses,  or  places  of  rest  and  refreshment.  They  are  to 
Japan  what  the  beer-hall  is  to  Germany,  the  wine-shop  to  France,  or  the 
whiskey -saloon  to  America,  with  the  difference  in  their  favor  that  they 
are  nmcli  more  numerous,  and  patrotiized  by  all  classes  of  people.  The 
first  visitors  to  Japan  came  away  with  erroneous  notions  about  the  char- 
acter of  the  tea-house,  and  these  errors  have  found  their  way  into  books 
on  the  country  and  been  repeated  many  times,  to  the  great  scandal  of  the 
people  of  the  empire  of  the  Mikado.  The  truth  is  that  the  tea-house  is  a 
perfectly  reputable  and  correct  place  in  nineteen  cases  out  of  twenty.  It 
may  have  a  bad  character  in  the  twentieth  instance,  just  as  there  is  now 
and  then  a  hotel  in  Xew  York  or  other  city  that  is  the  resort  of  thieves 
and  various  bad  persons.  Nearly  all  classes  of  people  in  Japan,  who  can 
afford  to  do  so,  resort  to  the  tea-houses,  either  in  the  hot  hours  of  the  day 
or  in  the  evening.  One  can  purchase,  in  addition  to  tea,  a  variety  of  light 
refreshments,  and  the  building  is  almost  invariably  well  ventilated  and 
prettily  situated.  A  person  may  sit  in  public  if  he  wishes,  or  he  may 
have  one  of  the  rooms  partitioned  off  for  himself  and  be  quite  secluded. 
The  rooms  are  made,  as  in  the  hotels  and  other  houses,  by  means  of  paper 
partitions,  and  can  be  formed  with  great  rapidit}'. 

At  Tokio,  Osaka,  Kioto,  and  other  large  and  wealthy  cities  many  of 
the  tea-houses  are  so  extensive  that  they  take  the  name  of  gardens,  and 
cover  large  areas  of  ground.  The  attendants  are  invariably  girls,  and  the 
number  is  by  no  means  niggardly.  They  are  selected,  for  their  intelli- 
gence and  good-looks,  as  the  business  of  the  house  depends  considerably 
upon  the  attractiveness  of  the  servants.  Their  movements  are  graceful, 
and  a  Japanese  tea-house,  with  its  bevy  of  attendants,  is  no  unpleasant 

12 


178 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


A   RELIGIOUS  CAVE.  179 

sight.  Foreigners  in  Japan  are  liberal  patrons  of  the  tea-houses,  and 
many  a  stranger  has  found  a  cordial  welcome  within  the  walls  of  one  of 
these  popular  establishments. 

From  the  tea-house  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  Doctor  Bronson  led  the  way 
down  a  steep  path  to  the  sea.     At  the  end  of  the  path,  and  opening  upon 


THE    PATH    IN    EXOSHIMA. 


the  sea,  there  is  a  cavern  which  the  Japanese  consider  sacred.  Formerly 
they  would  not  allow  a  stranger  to  enter  the  cavern  for  fear  of  polluting 
it ;  but  at  present  they  make  no  opposition,  for  the  double  reason  that 
they  have  found  the  caj'e  remains  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  and,  more- 
over, the  stranger  is  so  willing  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  exploration  that 
a  considerable  sum  is  armually  obtained  from  him.  When  the  tide  is  in, 
the  cave  can  only  be  entered  by  means  of  a  boat ;  but  at  low-water  one 
can  creep  along  a  narrow  ledge  of  rock  where  a  pathway  has  been  cut, 
which  he  can  follow  to  the  terminus.  Our  party  engaged  a  guide  with 
torches,  and  were  taken  to  the  end  of  the  cave,  whei'e  they  found  a 
hideous- looking  idol  that  was  the  presiding  divinity  of  the  place.  A 
shrine  had  been  erected  here,  and  -svhen  it  was  lighted  up  the  appearance 
was  fairly  imposing.  The  pilgrims  consider  it  a  pious  duty  to  visit  this 
shrine  whenever  they  come  to  the  island,  and  it  has  become  quite  famous 
throughout  Japan. 

The  boys  were  not  inclined  to  stay  long  in  the  cave,  as  the  sound  of 
the  waters  beating  in  at  the  entrance  was  almost  deafening.  They  very 
soon  sought  the  open  air,  where  a  new  entertainment  awaited  them. 
There  was  a  group  of  men  and  boys  on  the  rocks  at  the  entrance  of  the 


180  THE   BOY   TUAVELLEUS. 

cavern,  and  they  called  to  the  strangers  to  throw  coins  into  the  water  and 
see  how  soon  they  could  be  recovered  by  diving.  Frank  threw  a  small 
piece  of  silver  into  the  clear  water  of  the  Pacific,  and  in  an  instant  half  a 
dozen  boys  sprang  for  it.  One  of  them  canght  it  before  it  reached  the 
bottom,  and  came  up  with  the  piece  in  his  mouth.  Several  coins  were 
thrown,  with  a  similar  result ;  and  finally  it  was  proposed  to  let  the  money 
reach  the  bottom  before  the  divers  started.  This  was  done,  and,  as  the 
depth  was  about  twelve  feet,  the  work  of  finding  the  bit  of  silver  was  not 
very  easy.  But  it  was  found  and  brought  to  the  surface ;  and  after  the 
divers  had  been  complimented  on  their  skill,  our  friends  moved  on.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the  money  thrown  into  the  water  became  the 
property  of  the  youth  who  secured  it ;  though  it  was  rumored  that  the 
divers  were  associated,  and  everything  obtained  went  into  a  common 
purse.  The  Oriental  people  are  famous  for  their  guilds,  or  labor  and 
trade  associations,  and  nearly  every  occupation  in  life  is  under  the  control 
of  a  guild,  which  has  verj'  arbitrary  rules.  It  is  not  at  all  impossible  that 
the  boys  who  dive  for  small  coins  at  Enoshima  are  under  the  control  of 
an  association,  and  that  its  rules  and  regulations  may  have  been  in  force 
for  hundreds  of  years. 

As  the  walk  through  the  woods  would  have  been  fatiguing,  and  it  was 
near  the  middle  of  tlie  day,  when  the  sun  was  high  and  the  heat  severe. 
Doctor  Bronson  engaged  a  boat  to  take  the  party  back  to  the  hotel.  They 
returned  safely,  and,  after  resting  awhile,  went  on  another  walk,  in  a 
a  direction  slightly  different  from  the  first. 

They  soon  found  themselves  among  the  huts  of  the  fishermen,  and  the 
quantity  of  fish  that  lay  around  in  various  stages  of  preparation  told  that 
the  business  was  not  without  prosperity.  In  a  secluded  part  of  the  island 
they  came  upon  a  pretty  summer-house,  where  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Tokio 
spent  the  hot  months  of  the  year.  Through  the  gateway  of  the  garden 
they  had  a  glimpse  of  a  group  of  three  ladies  that  were  evidently  out  for 
an  airing.  Frank  thought  he  had  never  seen  a  prettier  group  in  all  his 
life,  and  while  he  looked  at  them  he  whispered  his  opinion  to  Fred. 

Fred  agreed  with  him,  and  then  added,  "  I  tell  you  what,  Frank,  we'll 
get  three  dresses  just  like  those,  if  they  don't  cost  too  much ;  and  when  we 
get  home,  we'll  have  Miss  EflSe  and  your  sister  and  my  sister  put  them  on. 
Then  we'll  arrange  the  garden  to  look  like  that  one  as  much  as  possible, 
with  a  little  furnace  and  teapot  in  front  of  the  girls,  and  the  pedestal  of 
a  statue  near  them.     Won't  that  be  nice  ?" 

Frank  agreed  that  it  would,  and,  lest  he  should  forget  the  arrangement 
of  the  group,  he  made  a  rough  sketch  of  the  scene,  and  said  they  could 


THE   THREE   GRACES. 


181 


182 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


rely  upon  pliotographs  for  the  costumes  and  tlieir  colors.     If  they  got  the 
dresses,  the  girls  could  easily  arrange  them  with  the  aid  of  the  pictures. 

When  the  sketch  was  finished,  they  returned  to  the  hotel.  The  tide 
was  now  out,  and  so  the  Doctor  settled  their  account  and  they  started  for 
Yokohama,  following  the  most  direct  route,  and  making  no  halts  for  sight- 
seeing. They  arrived  late  in  the  evening,  well  pleased  with  their  excur- 
sion to  Dai-Boots  and  Enoshima,  and  determined  to  give  their  friends  at 
home  a  full  and  faithful  account  of  what  the}'  had  seen  and  learned. 


SPECIMEN    OF    GUOTESQUE    DRAWING    UV    A    JAPANESE    ARTIST. 


THE   MOXA.  183 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ON   THE   ROAD   TO   FUSIYAMA. 

n['^HE  morning  after  their  return  from  Enoshima  was  mostly  spent  at 
-L  the  hotel,  as  all  three  of  the  excursionists  were  somewhat  fatigued 
with  their  journey.  The  boys  embraced  the  opportunity  to  ask  the  Doc- 
tor the  meaning  of  certain  things  they  had  observed  in  Japan,  and  which 
had  not  been  brought  up  in  conversation. 

"  For  one  thing,"  said  Frank, "  why  is  it  that  so  many  of  the  people, 
the  coolies  especially,  have  large  scars  on  their  skins,  as  if  they  had  been 
burned.  There  is  hardly  a  coolie  I  have  seen  that  is  without  them,  and 
one  of  the  men  that  drew  my  jin-riki-sha  to  Enoshima  had  his  legs  cov- 
ered with  scars,  and  also  a  fresh  sore  on  each  leg." 

"  Those  scars,"  the  Doctor  answered,  "  are  from  the  moxa,  which  is 
used  to  some  extent  in  medical  practice  in  Europe  and  America.  Don't 
you  remember  that  when  your  uncle  Charles  had  a  disease  of  the  spine  the 
doctors  applied  a  hot  iron  to  his  back,  along  each  side  of  the  backbone  ?" 

"Certainly,  I  remember  that,"  Frank  replied;  "and  it  cured  him,  too." 

"  Well,  that  was  the  moxa.  It  is  not  very  often  used  in  our  country, 
nor  in  Europe,  but  it  is  very  common  in  Japan." 

"  I  should  think  it  would  be  a  very  painful  remedy,"  Fred  remarked, 
"  and  that  a  man  would  be  quite  unwilling  to  have  it  applied." 

"  That  is  the  case,"  answered  the  Doctor,  "  with  us,  but  it  is  not  so 
here.  The  Japanese  take  the  moxa  as  calmly  as  we  would  swallow  a 
pill,  and  with  far  less  opposition  than  some  of  us  make  to  a  commoTi 
blister. 

"  They  take  the  moxa  for  nearly  everything,  real  or  imaginary.  Some- 
times they  have  the  advice  of  a  doctor,  but  oftener  they  go  to  a  priest, 
who  makes  a  mark  on  them  where  the  burn  is  to  be  applied ;  then  they 
go  to  a  man  who  sells  the  burning  material,  and  he  puts  it  on  as  a  druggist 
WMth  us  would  fill  up  a  prescription." 

"What  do  they  use  for  tlie  burning?" 

"  They  have  a  little  cone  the  size  of  the  intended  blister.     It  is  made 


184  'A'Hli    BOY   TUAVELLKKS. 

of  the  pith  of  a  certain  tree,  and  bums  exactly  like  the  punk  with  which 
all  boys  in  the  country  are  familiar.  It  is  placed  over  the  spot  to  be  cau- 
terized, and  is  then  lighted  from  a  red-hot  coal.  It  burns  slowly  and  stead- 
ily down,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  patient  begins  to  squirm,  and  perhaps 
wish  he  had  tried  some  milder  mode  of  cure.  Sometimes  he  has  half  a 
dozen  of  these  things  burning  at  once,  and  I  have  seen  them  fully  an  inch 
in  diameter. 

"  Nearly  every  native  has  himself  cauterized  as  often  as  once  a  year  by 
M'ay  of  precaution;  and  if  he  does  not  feel  well  some  morning, he  is  very 
likely  to  go  to  the  temple  and  have  an  application  of  the  moxa.  It  is 
even  applied  to  very  young  children.  I  have  seen  an  infant  not  a  month 
old  lying  across  its  mother's  knee  while  another  woman  was  amusing  her- 
self by  burning  a  couple  of  these  pith  cones  on  the  abdomen  of  the  child. 
He  objected  to  the  operation  by  screaming  and  kicking  with  all  his  might, 
but  it  was  of  no  use.  The  moxa  was  considered  good  for  him,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  submit." 

"Another  thing,"  said  Fred — "why  is  it  that  the  grooms  are  covered 
with  tattoo-marks,  and  wear  so  little  clothing?" 

"I  cannot  say  exactly  why  it  is,"  the  Doctor  rejjlied,  "further  than 
that  such  is  the  custom.  If  you  ask  a  Japanese  for  the  reason,  he  will  an- 
swer that  it  is  the  old  custom,  and  I  can  hardly  say  more  than  he  would. 

"  But  the  grooms,  or  '  bettos,'  as  the  Japanese  call  them,  are  not  the 
only  ones  who  indulge  in  tattooing.  You  will  see  many  of  the  'sendos,' 
or  boat-coolies,  thus  marked,  but  in  a  less  degree  than  the  bettos.  Perhaps 
it  is  because  the  grooms  are  obliged  to  run  so  much,  and  consequently 
wish  to  lay  aside  nil  garments.  As  they  must  wear  something,  they  have 
their  skins  decorated  in  this  way,  and  thus  have  a  suit  of  clothing  always 
about  them. 

"And,  speaking  of  these  grooms,  it  is  astonishing  at  what  a  pace  they 
can  run,  and  how  long  they  will  keep  it  up.  You  may  go  out  with  your 
carriage  or  on  horseback,  and,  no  matter  how  rapidly  you  go,  the  groom 
will  be  always  at  your  side,  and  ready  to  take  the  bridle  of  your  horse 
the  moment  you  halt.  They  are  powerful  fellows,  but  their  reputation 
for  honesty  is  not  first-class." 

Conversation  ran  on  various  topics  for  an  hour  or  more,  and  then  Doc- 
tor Bronson  announced  that  he  would  go  out  for  a  while,  and  hoped  to 
give  them  some  interesting  information  on  his  return.  The  bo^'S  busied 
themselves  with  their  journals,  and  in  this  way  a  couple  of  hours  slipped 
along  without  their  suspecting  how  rapidly  the  time  was  flying.  They 
were  still  occupied  when  the  Doctor  returned. 


CLOTHING  THAT  DOES   NOT   WEAR   OUT. 


185 


BKTTOS,    OK    GROOMS,   IN    FULL    DUliSS. 


"  "Well,  my  boys,"  he  said,  "  you  must  be  ready  for  another  journey  to- 
morrow. And  it  will  be  much  longer  and  more  fatiguing  than  the  one 
we  have  just  made." 

"  Where  are  we  going,  please  ?"  said  Frank. 


186  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

"  I  have  arranged  to  go  to  Hakone  and  Fusiyaina,"  the  Doctor  replied ; 
"  and  if  we  get  favorable  weather,  and  are  not  too  tired  when  we  arrive, 
we  will  go  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain." 

Frank  and  Fred  clapped  their  hands  with  deh'ght,  and  thought  of  noth- 
ing else  for  some  minutes  than  the  journey  to  Fusiyama.  It  was  an  ex- 
cursion they  had  wanted  very  much  to  make,  and  which  very  few  visitors 
to  Japan  think  of  attempting.  And  now  Doctor  Bronson  had  arranged  it 
for  them,  and  they  were  to  be  off  the  next  morning.  Could  anything  be 
more  fortunate  ? 

The  arrangement  for  the  journey  was  somewhat  more  serious  than  the 
one  for  Enoshima.  It  would  take  several  days,  and  for  a  considerable 
part  of  the  way  the  accommodations  were  entirely  Japanese.  This  might 
do  for  a  trip  of  a  day  or  two  where  no  unusual  fatigue  was  to  be  expected ; 
but  in  a  tour  of  considerable  length,  where  there  was  likely  to  be  much 
hard  work,  and  consequently  much  exhaustion,  it  was  necessiiry  to  make 
the  most  complete  preparations.  The  Doctor  foresaw  this,  and  arranged 
his  plans  accordingly. 

A  Japanese  who  had  been  with  parties  to  the  holy  mountain,  and  un- 
derstood the  ways  and  wants  of  the  foreigners,  had  made  a  contract  to 
accompany  our  friends  to  Fusij^ama.  He  was  to  supply  them  with  the 
necessary  means  of  conveyance,  servants,  provisions,  and  whatever  else 
they  wanted.  The  contract  was  carefully  drawn,  and  it  w-as  agreed  that 
any  points  in  dispute  should  be  decided  by  a  gentleman  in  Yokohama  on 
their  return. 

They  were  off  at  an  early  hour,  and,  as  before,  their  route  was  along 
the  Tokaido.  The  provisions  and  other  things  had  been  sent  on  ahead 
during  the  night,  and  they  did  not  see  them  until  they  came  to  the  place 
where  they  were  to  sleep.  They  took  a  light  meal  before  starting  from 
Yokohama,  and  found  a  substantial  breakfast  waiting  for  them  at  Tot- 
sooka.  Their  host  was  a  famous  character  in  the  East — an  English  actor 
who  had  drifted  through  China  and  Japan,  and  linally  settled  down  here 
as  a  hotel-keeper. " 

"  I  met  George  Pauncefort  in  China  years  ago,"  said  the  Doctor,  as 
they  entered  the  hotel ;  "  I  wonder  if  he  will  recognize  me." 

George  greeted  the  travellers  with  all  the  dignity  of  an  emperor  salut- 
ing an  embassy  from  a  brother  emperor,  and  wished  them  welcome  to  his 
roof  and  all  beneath  it.  Then  he  straightened  up  to  the  very  highest  line 
of  erectness,  and  rested  his  gaze  upon  Doctor  Bronson. 

For  fully  a  minute  he  stood  without  moving  a  muscle,  and  then  struck 
an  attitude  of  astonishment. 


THE   MAN   FKOM   OHIO.  187 

"  Can  it  be  ?  Yes !  No !  Impossible  I'"  he  exclaimed.  "  Do  my  eves 
deceive  me?     No,  they  do  not;  it  is;  it  must  be  he!  it  must!  it  must!" 

Then  he  shook  hands  with  the  Doctor,  struck  another  attitude  of  aston- 
ishment, and  with  the  same  Macbethian  air  turned  to  a  servant  and  told 
him  to  put  the  steaks  and  the  chicken  on  tlie  table. 

It  is  said  by  the  residents  of  Yokohama,  with  whom  the  hotel  at  Tot- 
sooka  is  a  favorite  resort,  that  George  Pauncefort  stirs  an  omelette  as 
though  he  were  playing  Hamlet,  and  his  conception  of  Sir  Peter  Teazle 
is  manifested  when  he  prepares  a  glass  of  stimulating  fluid  for  a  thirsty 
patron. 

Various  industrial  processes  were  visible  as  our  party  rode  along. 
Some  women  were  weaving  cotton  at  a  native  loom,  and  they  halted  the 
jin-riki-shas  a  few  moments  to  look  at  the  process.  The  loom  was  a  very 
primitive  affair,  and  the  operator  sat  on  the  floor  in  front  of  it.  A  man 
who  appeared  to  be  the  chief  of  the  establishment  was  calmly  smoking  a 
pipe  close  by,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  weaver  a  woman  was  winding 
some  cotton  thread  on  a  spool  by  means  of  a  simple  reel.  After  looking 
a  few  moments  at  the  loom,  and  the  mode  of  weaving  in  Japan,  the  party 
moved  on.  The  boys  had  learned  to  say  "  Sayonara  "  on  bidding  farewell 
to  the  Japanese,  and  they  pronounced  it  on  this  occasion  in  the  most  ap- 
proved style.  The  Japanese  salutation  on  meeting  is  "  Ohio,"  and  it  is  pro- 
nounced exactly  like  the  name  of  our  Western  state  of  which  Columbus  is 
the  capital.  Everywhere  the  Japanese  greet  you  with  "  Ohio,"  and  a 
stranger  does  not  need  to  be  long  in  the  country  to  know  how  exceedingly 
polite  are  the  people  we  were  accustomed  only  a  few  years  ago  to  consider 
as  barbarians. 

There  is  a  story  current  in  Japan  of  a  gentleman  from  Cincinnati  who 
arrived  one  evening  in  Yokohama,  and  the  following  morning  went  into 
the  country  for  a  stroll.  Everywhere  the  men,  women,  and  children 
greeted  him  with  the  customary  salutation, "  Ohio,  oliio,"  and  the  word 
rang  in  his  ears  till  he  returned  to  his  hoteh 

He  immediately  sought  the  landlord,  and  said,  "  I  wish  to  ask  if  there 
is  anything  in  my  personal  appearance  that  indicates  what  part  of  the 
States  I  am  from." 

The  landlord  assured  him  that  there  was  no  peculiarit}^  of  his  costume 
that  he  could  i3oint  out  as  any  such  indication. 

"  And  yet,"  answered  the  stranger,  ''  all  the  Japanese  have  discovered 
it.  They  knew  me  at  a  glance  as  a  native  of  Ohio,  as  every  one  of  them 
invariably  said  '  Ohio' when  I  met  them.  And  I  must  give  them  the 
credit  to  say  that  they  always  did  it  very  politely." 


188 


THE   BOY    TRAVELLERS. 


NATIVE   ARTISTS   AND   COOPERS. 


189 


He  was  somewhat  astonished,  and  also  a  trifle  disappointed,  when  he 
learned  the  exact  state  of  affairs. 

Thej  passed  a  house  where  some  artists  were  at  work  with  the  tools  of 
their  trade  on  the  floor  before  them,  forming  a  neat  and  curious  collection. 
There  were  little  saucers  filled  with  paints  of  various  colors,  and  the  ever- 
present  teapot  with  its  refreshing  contents.  There  were  three  persons  in 
the  group,  and  they  kept  steadily  at  their  occupation  without  regarding 
the  visitors  who  were  looking  at  them.  They  were  engaged  upon  pictures 
on  thin  paper,  intended  for  the  ornamentation  of  boxes  for  packing  small 
articles  of  merchandise.  Larger  pictures  are  placed  on  an  easel,  as  with  us, 
but  the  small  ones  are  invariably  held  in  the  hand. 


AKTISTS    AT    WOUK. 


In  front  of  a  house  by  the  roadside  some  coopers  were  hooping  a  vat, 
and  Frank  instantly  recognized  the  fidelity  of  a  picture  he  had  seen  by  a 
native  artist  showing  how  the  Japanese  coopers  performed  their  work. 
They  make  excellent  articles  in  their  line,  and  sell  them  for  an  astonish- 
ingly low  price,  when  we  compare  them  with  similar  things  from  an 
American  maker.  The  fidelity  of  the  work  is  to  be  commended,  and  the 
pails  and  tubs  from  their  hands  will  last  a  long  time  without  the  least 
necessity  of  repairs. 

Near  the  end  of  the  first  day's  journey  the  party  stopped  at  a  Japanese 
inn  that  had  been  previously  selected  by  their  conductor,  and  there  they 
found  their  baggage,  and,  what  was  quite  as  welcome,  a  substantial  dinner 
from  the  hands  of  the  cook  that  had  been  sent  on  ahead  of  them.  They 
had  sharp  appetites,  and  the  dinner  was  very  much  to  their  liking.   It  was 


190 


TUE    BOY    TRAVELLKRS. 


COOPERS    HOOPING   A   VAT. 


more  foreign  tlian  Japanese,  as  it  con- 
sisted lai'gel}'^  of  articles  from  Amer- 
ica ;  but  there  was  a  liberal  supply  of 
boiled  rice,  and  the  savory  stew  of 
fish  was  not  wanting. 

The  boys  were  rather  surprised 
when  they  sat  down  to  a  dinner  at 
which  stewed  oysters,  green  corn,  and 
other  things  with  which  they  were 
familiar  at  home  were  smoking  be- 
fore them ;  and  Fred  remarked  that 
the  Japanese  cooking  was  not  so  un- 
like that  of  America,  after  all.  Doctor 
Bronson  smiled  and  said  the  cooking 
was  done  in  America,  and  all  that  the 
Japanese  cook  had  to  do  with  the  ar- 
ticles was  to  warm  them  np  after 
opening  the  cans. 

"And  so  these  things  come  here 

in  cans,  do  they?"  Frank  inquired. 

"  Certainly,""  the  Doctor  responded,  "  these  things  come  here  in  cans, 

and  a  great  many  other  things  as  well.    They  serve  to  make  life  endurable 

to  an  American  in  a  distant  land  like  Japan,  and  they  also  serve  to  keep 

him  patriotic  by  constantly  reminding  him  of  home. 

"No  one,"  he  continued,  "who  has  not  been  in  foreign  lands,  or  has  no 
direct  connection  with  the  business  of  canning  our  fruits,  meats,  and  vege- 
tables, can  have  an  idea  of  the  extent  of  our  trade  in  these  things.  The 
invention  of  the  process  of  preserving  in  a  fresh  state  these  products  which 
are  ordinarily  considered  perishable  has  enabled  us  to  sell  of  our  abun- 
dance, and  supply  the  whole  world  with  what  the  whole  world  could  not 
otherwise  obtain.  You  may  sit  down  to  a  dinner  in  Tokio  or  Cairo,  Cal- 
cutta or  Melbourne,  Singapore  or  Rome,  and  the  entire  meal  may  consist 
of  canned  fish,  canned  meats,  canned  fruits,  or  canned  vegetables  from  the 
United  States.  A  year  or  two  ago  the  American  consul  at  Bangkok, 
Siam,  gave  a  Christmas  dinner  at  which  everything  on  the  table  was  of 
home  production,  and  a  very  substantial  dinner  it  was." 

"  I  wonder  what  they  had  for  diimer  that  day,"  said  Fred,  with  a  laugh. 

"  As  near  as  I  can  remember,"  the  Doctor  replied,  "  they  began  with 

oyster  and  clam  soup.   Then  they  had  boiled  codfish  and  fresh  salmon,  and, 

as  if  there  were  not  fish  enough,  they  had  stewed  eels.     For  meats  they 


AN   AMERICAN   DINNER   ABROAD.  .  191 

had  turkey,  cliicken,  ham,  a  goose  that  had  been  put  up  wliole,  stewed  beef, 
roast  beef,  tongue,  sausages,  prairie  chickens,  diicks,  and  a  few  other  things  ; 
and  as  for  vegetables  and  fruits,  you  can  hardly  name  any  product  of  our 
gardens  and  orchards  that  they  did  not  have  before  them.  For  drinks  they 
had  American  wines,  American  beer,  American  cider,  and,  besides,  they  had 
honey  just  out  of  the  comb  that  astonished  everybody  with  its  freshness. 
All  who  were  present  pronounced  the  dinner  as  good  as  any  they  had  ever 
eaten,  and  it  made  them  feel  very  patriotic  to  think  that  everything  came 
from  home. 

"  You  can  hardly  go  anywhere  in  the  world  where  there  is  an  approach 
to  civilization  without  finding  our  canned  goods,  as  the  merchants  call 
them.  They  are  widely  known  and  appreciated,  and  well  deserve  the 
reputation  they  bear." 

This  conversation  went  on  while  the  party  were  engaged  in  the  con- 
sumption of  the  dinner,  and  the  presence  of  many  of  the  tilings  named 
gave  it  an  additional  point.  When  they  were  through  dinner,  they  took 
a  short  period  of  lonnging  on  the  veranda,  and  soon  retired  to  rest.  We 
can  be  sure  they  slept  well,  for  they  had  had  a  long  and  weary  ride. 

They  were  off  again  early  in  the  morning,  and  in  a  little  while 
came  to  the  banks  of  a  river  which  they  were  to  cross.  Frank  looked 
for  a  bridge,  and  saw  none  ;  then  he  looked  for  a  ferry-boat,  but  none  was 
visible. 

"  W.ell,"  he  said,  half  to  himself,  "  I  wonder  how  we  are  to  get  over  to 
the  other  bank." 

"  There  are  the  boatmen,  but  no  boats,"  said  Fred,  as  he  pointed  to  some 
stalwart  men  who  were  sitting  on  the  bank,  and  evidently  waiting  for 
something  to  turn  up. 

The  mystery  was  soon  solved.  The  river  was  neither  wide  nor  deep, 
and  the  men  they  saw  waiting  by  the  bank  were  porters  who  carried  peo- 
ple across,  and  also  carried  merchandise.  The  stream  was  said  to  rise  very 
rapidly,  and  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  bottom  it  was  difficult  to  maintain 
a  bridge  there  for  any  length  of  time.  The  porters  took  tlie  party  across 
very  speedily :  they  carried  the  servants  by  what  the  boys  called  "  pick-a- 
back," while  Doctor  Bronson  and  the  boys  were  borne  on  chairs  resting  on 
poles,  with  six  men  to  each  chair.  Some  horses  belonging  to  another  party 
were  led  through  the  river  at  the  same  time,  and  evidently  were  not 
pleased  with  the  bath  they  were  receiving. 

Frank  wondered  if  accidents  did  not  happen  sometimes,  and  asked  their 
conductor  about  it.  The  latter  told  him  that  the  Japanese  law  protected 
the  traveller  by  recpiiring  the  head  of  the  porter  in  case  a  person  should 


193 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


INCIDENTS   IN  ODIWARA. 


193 


be  drowned  in  his  charge.     He  said  the  law  allowed  no  excuse,  and  the 
porter  must  pay  with  his  life  for  any  accident. 

Frank  thought  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  liave  the  same  system  in 
the  management  of  railways  in  America  :  but  then  he  remembered  that 
Miss  Effie's  uncle,  who  lived  in  Kew  York,  was  a  director  in  a  railway,  and 
perhaps  it  would  be  just  as  well  to  say  nothing  about  his  new  discovery. 
It  might  bring  trouble  into  the  family  and  lead  to  unpleasant  remarks. 

Since  the  party  made  their  excursion  to  Fusiyama  a  bridge  has  been 
built  over  the  river,  and  the  occupation  of  the  porters  is  gone.  Some  of 
them  cling  to  the  hope  that  the  river  will  one  day  rise  in  its  might,  and 
protest  against  this  invasion  of  its  rights  by  sweeping  away  the  structure 
that  spans  it,  thus  compelling  travellers  to  return  to  the  methods  of  the 
olden  time. 

From  the  river  they  proceeded  to  Odiwara,  Avliere  they  had  a  rest  of 
several  hours,  as  the  town  contained  certain  things  that  they  wished  to  see. 
They  found  that  foreigners  were  not  very  numerous  at  Odiwara,  and  there 
was  considerable  curiosity  to  see  them.  Whenever  they  halted  in  front  of 
a  shop,  or  to  look  at  anything  of  interest,  a  crowd  was  speedily  collected ; 
and  the  longer  they  stood,  the  greater  it  became.  But  there  was  no  im- 
pertinence, and  not  the  least  insult  was  offered  to  them ;  there  was  a  man- 
ifestation of  good-natured  curiosity, 
and  nothing  more:  Men,  women, and 
children  were  equally  respectful ;  and 
whenever  they  pressed  too  closely  it 
was  only  necessary  for  the  guide  to 
say  that  the  strangers  were  being  in- 
convenienced, when  the  crowd  im- 
mediately fell  back.  Every  day  and 
hour  of  their  stay  in  Japan  confirm- 
ed our  friends  more  and  more  in  the 
belief  that  there  are  no  more  polite 
people  in  the  world  than  the  Japanese. 

Fred  tried  to  open  a  conversation 
with  a  boy  who  was  evidently  out  for 
a  walk  with  his  mother.  The  little 
fellow  Avas  somewhat  shy  at  first,  but 
very  soon  he  became  entirely  con- 
fident that  the  stranger  would  not 


harm  him,  and  he  did  his  best  to  talk. 
They  did  not  succeed  very  well  in 


JIOTHEK    AND    SON. 


13 


194 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


their  interchange  of  ideas,  as  neither  could  speak  the  language  of  the 
other,  and  so  they  attempted  an  exchange  of  presents.  Fred  gave  the 
young  native  an  American  lead-pencil  that  opened  and  closed  with  a 
screw,  and  received  in  return  the  fan  which  tlie  youth  carried  in  his  hand. 
Both  appeared  well  pleased  with  the  transaction,  and  after  several  bows 
and  "sayonaras"  they  separated. 

Frank  had  several  tish-hooks  in  his  pockets,  and  was  determined  not  to 
be  behind  Fred  in  making  a  trade.  Ilis  eye  rested  on  a  family  group 
that  was  evidently  returning  from  a  fishing  excursion;  the  man  was  carry- 
ing some  fishing-tackle  and  a  small  bag,  while  the  woman  bore  a  basket  of 

fish  on  her  head  and  held  a 
child  to  her  breast.  A  boy 
six  or  eight  years  old  was 
dragging  a  live  tortoise  by 
a  string,  and  it  occurred  to 
Frank  to  free  the  tortoise 
from  captivity. 

So  he  produced  one  of 
his  fish-hooks,  and  intimat- 
ed that  he  would  give  it  for 
the  captive.  There  was  a 
brief  conversation  between 
father  and  son,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  desired  ex- 
change. Frank  handed  the 
tortoise  over  to  the  guide, 
with  instructions  to  set  it 
free  at  a  favorable  time  and 
place.  The  latter  complied 
by  delivering  the  prize  to 
the  cook  as  an  agreeable  ad- 
dition to  the  bill  of  fare  for 
the  next  meal.  So  the  free- 
dom of  the  tortoise  was  not  exactly  the  kind  that  his  liberator  had  intended. 
But  there  was  an  unforeseen  result  to  this  transaction,  for  it  was  soon 
noised  about  among  the  small  boys  that  the  foreigners  were  giving  fish- 
hooks for  tortoises ;  and  as  there  was  a  good  supply  of  the  latter,  and  not 
a  good  one  of  the  former,  there  was  a  public  anxiety  to  benefit  by  the 
newly  opened  commerce.  In  less  than  half  an  hour  there  was  a  move- 
ment in  the  market  that  assumed  serious  importance,  and  Frank  found 


A   FISHING   FARTT. 


INNOVATIONS  IN  JAPAN.  195 

himself  in  the  character  of  a  merchant  in  a  foreign  land.  He  became  the 
owner  of  nearly  a  dozen  of  the  kindred  of  his  first  purchase,  and  would 
have  kept  on  longer  had  not  his  stock-in-trade  given  out.  The  guide 
took  the  purchases  in  charge,  and  they  followed  the  fate  of  the  pioneer 
in  the  business  in  finding  their  way  to  the  cooking-pot.  When  the  traffic 
was  ended,  and  the  Japanese  urchins  found  that  the  market  was  closed, 
they  pronounced  their  "sayonaras"  and  withdrew  as  quietly  as  they  had 
come. 

From  Odiwara  tlie  roads  were  worse  than  they  had  found  them  thus  far. 
They  had  come  by  jin-riki-shas  from  Yokohama,  and  had  had  no  trouble ; 
but  from  this  place  onward  they  were  told  that  the  roads  were  not  every- 
where practicable  for  wiieeled  carriages.  The  Japanese  are  improving 
their  roads  every  year,  and  therefore  a  description  for  one  season  does  not 
exactly  indicate  the  character  of  another.  Anybody  who  reads  this  story 
and  then  goes  to  Japan  may  find  good  routes  where  formerly  there  were 
only  impassable  gorges,  and  hotels  and  comfortable  lodging-houses  where, 
only  a  year  before,  there  was  nothing  of  the  kind.  In  no  country  in  the 
world  at  the  present  time,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Western 
States  of  North  America,  are  the  changes  so  rapid  as  in  the  land  of  the 
Mikado.  Wheeled  carriages  were  practically  unknown  before  Commodore 
Perry  landed  on  Japanese  soil,  and  the  railway  was  an  innovation  un- 
dreamed of  in  the  Japanese  philosophy.  Now  wheeled  vehicles  are  com- 
mon, and  the  railway  is  a  popular  institution,  that  bids  fair  to  extend  its 
benefits  in  many  directions.  Progress,  progress,  progress,  is  the  motto  of 
the  Japan  of  to-day. 

Besides  the  natural  desire  to  see  Odiwara,  the  party  had  another  reason 
for  their  delay,  which  was  to  give  the  conductor  time  to  engage  cangos 
for  their  transport  in  such  localities  as  would  not  admit  of  the  jin-riki-sha. 
We  will  see  by-and-by  what  the  cango  is. 

The  boys  had  been  much  amused  at  the  appearance  of  a  Japanese  they 
met  on  the  road  just  before  reaching  Odiwara,  and  wondered  if  they 
would  be  obliged  to  adopt  that  mode  of  riding  before  they  finished  their 
journey.  The  man  in  question  was  seated  on  a  horse,  not  in  the  way  in 
which  we  are  accustomed  to  sit,  but  literally  on  the  back  of  the  animal. 
His  baggage  was  fastened  around  him  behind  and  on  each  side,  and  he 
was  rather  uncomfortably  crouched  (at  least,  so  it  seemed  to  Fred)  on  a 
flat  pad  like  the  one  used  by  a  circus-rider.  A  servant  led  the  horse,  and 
the  pace  was  a  walking  one.  Altogether,  the  appearance  of  the  man  was 
decidedly  ludicrous,  and  the  boys  were  somewhat  surprised  to  learn  that 
this  was  the  ordinary  way  of  travelling  on  horseback  in  the  olden  time. 


196 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


THK    HAN    TUKr   MUT. 


Before  the  arrival  of  foreignei-s  in  Japan  it  was  not  the  fashion  for  a 
traveller  to  be  in  a  hurry,  and,  even  at  the  present  time,  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  make  a  native  understand  the  value  of  a  day  or  an  hour.  A  man 
setting  out  on  a  journey  did  not  concern  himself  about  the  time  he  would 
consume  on  the  road ;  if  the  weather  was  unfavorable,  he  M'as  perfectly 
willing  to  rest  for  an  indefinite  period,  and  it  mattered  little  if  he  occu- 
pied three  weeks  in  making  a  journey  that  could  be  covered  in  one.  In 
matters  of  business  the  Japanese  have  not  yet  learned  the  importance  of 
time,  and  the  foreign  merchants  complain  greatly  of  the  native  dilatori- 
ness.  A  Japanese  will  Tnake  a  contract  to  deliver  goods  at  a  certain 
date;  on  the  day  appointed,  or  perhaps  a  week  or  two  later,  he  will  in- 
form the  other  party  to  the  agreement  that  he  will  not  be  ready  for  a 
month  or  two,  and  he  is  quite  unable  to  comprehend  the  indignation  of 
the  disappointed  merchant.  He  demurely  says,  "I  can't  have  the  goods 
ready,"  and  does  not  realize  that  he  has  given  any  cause  for  anger.  Time 
is  of  no  consequence  to  him,  and  he  cannot  understand  that  anybody  else 
should  have  any  regard  for  it.  The  Japanese  are  every  year  becoming 
more  and  more  familiarized  with  the  foreign  ways  of  business,  and  will 
doubtless  learn,  after  a  while,  the  advantages  of  punctuality. 


TRAVELLING  UY'  CANGO.  197 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   ASCENT   OF   FUSIYAMA. 

THEY  did  not  get  far  from  Odiwara  before  it  was  necessary  to  leave 
the  jin-riki-shas  and  take  to  the  cangos.  Tliese  were  found  waiting 
for  thein  where  the  road  ended  and  the  footpath  began,  and  the  boys 
were  deh'ghted  at  the  change  from  the  one  mode  of  conveyance  to  the 
other.  Doctor  Bronson  did  not  seem  to  share  their  enthusiasm,  as  he  had 
been  in  a  cango  before  and  did  not  care  for  additional  exjjerience.  He 
said  that  cango  travelling  was  very  much  like  eating  crow — a  man  might 
do  it  if  he  tried,  but  he  was  not  very  likely  to  "  hanker  after  it." 

It  required  some  time  for  them  to  get  properly  stowed  in  their  new 
conveyances,  as  they  needed  considerable  instruction  to  know  how  to 
double  their  legs  beneath  them.  And  even  when  they  knew  how,  it  was 
not  easy  to  make  their  limbs  curl  into  the  proper  positions  and  feel  at 
home.  Frank  thought  it  would  be  very  nice  if  he  could  unscrew  his  legs 
and  put  them  on  the  top  of  the  cango,  where  he  was  expected  to  place  his 
boots ;  and  Fred  declared  that  if  he  could  not  do  that,  the  next  best  thing 
would  be  to  have  legs  of  India-rubber.  The  cango  is  a  box  of  light 
bamboo,  with  curtains  that  can  be  kept  uj)  or  down,  according  to  one's 
pleasure.  The  seat  is  so  small  that  you  must  curl  up  in  a  way  very 
uncomfortable  for  an  American,  but  not  at  all  inconvenient  for  a  Jap- 
anese. It  has  a  cushion,  on  which  the  traveller  sits,  and  the  top  is  so  low 
that  it  is  impossible  to  maintain  an  erect  position.  It  has  been  in  use  for 
hundreds  of  years  in  Japan,  and  is  not  a  great  remove  from  the  palanquin 
of  India,  though  less  comfortable.  The  body  of  the  machine  is  slung 
from  a  pole,  and  this  pole  is  upheld  by  a  couple  of  coolies.  The  men 
move  at  a  walk,  and  every  few  hundred  feet  they  stop,  rest  the  pole  on 
their  staffs,  and  shift  from  one  shoulder  to  the  other.  This  resting  is  a 
ticklish  thing  for  the  traveller,  as  the  cango  sways  from  side  to  side,  and 
gives  an  intimation  that  it  is  liable  to  fall  to  the  ground.  It  does  fall 
sometimes,  and  the  principal  consolation  in  such  an  event  is  that  it  does 
not  have  far  to  go. 


198 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


;    0 


TRAVELLING   IN   A   NORLMON. 


199 


A  more  aristocratic  vehicle  of  this  kind  is  the  norimon.  The  noriinou 
is  larger  than  the  cango,  and  is  completely  closed  in  at  the  sides,  so  that  it 
may  be  taken  as  a  faint  imitation  of  our  covered  carriages.  The  princes 
of  Japan  used  to  travel  in  norimons ;  and  they  are  still  employed  in  some 
parts  of  the  empire,  though  becoming  less  and  less  common  every  year. 
The  norimon  has  four  bearers,  instead  of  two,  and,  consequently,  there  is 
much  more  dignity  attached  to  its  use.  The  rate  of  progress  is  about  the 
same  as  with  the  cango,  and  after  several  hours  in  one  of  them  a  foreigner 
feels  very  much  as  if  he  were  a  sardine  and  had  been  packed  away  in  a 
can.  It  was  alwaj^s  considered  a  high  honor  to  be  the  bearer  of  a  princely 
personage ;  and  when  the  great  man  came  out  in  state,  with  his  army  of 
retainers  to  keep  the  road  properly  cleared,  the  procession  was  an  impos- 
ing one.  The  style  and  decorations  of  the  norimon  were  made  to  corre- 
spond with  the  rank  of  the  owner,  and  his  coat-of-arms  was  painted  on  the 
outside,  just  as.  one  may  see  the  coats-of-arms  on  private  carriages  in  Lon- 
don or  Paris.  When  a  prince  or  other  great  man  expected  a  distinguished 
visitor,  he  used  to  send  his  private  norimon  out  a  short  distance  on  the 
road  to  meet  him. 


JAPANESE    KOKIMON. 


The  boys  tried  all  possible  positions  in  the  cangos,  in  the  hope  of 
finding  some  way  that  Mas  comfortable.  Frank  finally  settled  down  into 
what  he  pronounced  the  least  uncomfortable  mode  of  riding,  and  Fred 
soon  followed  his  example.  They  had  taken  open  cangos,  so  as  to  see  as 
much  of  the  country  as  possible  and  have  the  advantage  of  whatever  air 
was  in  circulation ;  and  but  for  the  inconvenience  to  their  lower  limbs. 


200 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLEltS. 


FRANKS    POSITION. 


they  would  liave  found  it  capital  fun.  Frank  doubled  himself  so  that  his 
feet  were  as  high  as  his  head ;  he  gave  his  hat  into  the  care  of  the  con- 
ductor, and  replaced  it 
witli  a  cloth  covering,  so 
that  he  looked  not  much 
unlike  a  native.  His  bear- 
ers found  him  rather  un- 
wicldv,  as  he  frequently 
moved  about,  and  thus  dis- 
turbed the  equilibrium  of 
the  load.  To  ride  prop- 
erly in  a  cango  or  a  nori- 
mon,  one  should  not  move 
a  muscle  from  the  time  he 
enters  till,  he  leaves  the 
vehicle.  This  may  do  for  the  phlegmatic  Oriental,  but  is  torture  for  a 
foreigner,  and  especially  for  an  American. 

Doctor  Bronson  was  a  tall  man,  and  could  not  fold  himself  with  as 
much  facility  as  could  the  more  supple  youths.  He  rode  a  mile  or  so  and 
then  got  out  and  walked  ;  and  he  continued  thus  to  alternate  as  long  as 
they  were  travelling  in  this  way.  He  was  emphatic  in  declaring  that  the 
way  to  ride  in  a  cango  and  enjoy  it  thoroughly  was  to  walk  behind  it,  and 
let  somebody  else  take  the  inside  of  the  vehicle. 

Their  journey  brought  them  to  Hakone,  which  has  long  been  a  favor- 
ite summer  resort  of  the  Japanese,  and  of  late  years  is  much  patronized 
by  foreigners.  Those  who  can  afford  the  time  go  there  from  Yokohama, 
Tokio,  and  other  open  ports  of  Japan  ;  and  during  July  and  August  there 
is  quite  a  collection  of  English  and  Americans,  and  of  other  foreign  nation- 
alities. The  missionaries,  who  have  been  worn  down  and  broken  in  health 
by  their  exhaustive  labors  in  the  seaports  during  the  winter,  find  relief  and 
recuperation  at  Hakone  as  the  summer  comes  on.  There  they  gather  new 
strength  for  their  toils  by  breathing  the  pure  air  of  the  mountains  and 
climbing  the  rugged  paths,  and  they  have  abundant  opportunities  for 
doing  good  among  the  natives  that  reside  there. 

Before  reaching  Hakone  it  was  necessary  to  traverse  a  mountain  pass, 
by  ascending  a  very  steep  road  to  the  summit  and  then  descending  an- 
other. In  the  wildest  part  of  the  mountains  they  came  to  a  little  village, 
which  has  a  considerable  fame  for  its  hot  springs.  The  boys  had  a  fancy 
to  bathe  in  these  springs,  and,  as  the  coolies  needed  a  little  rest  after  their 
toilsome  walk,  it  was  agreed  to  halt  awhile.     There  were  several  of  the 


A  JAPANESE  HOT  SPRING. 


201 


202 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLEKS. 


springs,  and  the  water  was  gathered  in  pools,  wliich  had  a  very  inviting 
appearance  and  increased  the  desire  of  our  friends  to  try  them.  They 
went  into  one  of  tlie  small  rooms  provided  for  the  purpose,  removed  their 
clothing,  and  then  plunged  in  simultaneously.  They  came  ont  instantly, 
and  without  any  request  to  do  so  by  the  Doctor,  who  stood  laughing  at 
the  edge  of  the  pool.  For  their  skins  the  water  was  almost  scalding-hot, 
though  it  was  far  otherwise  to  the  Japanese.  The  Japanese  are  very  fond 
of  hot  baths,  and  will  bathe  in  water  of  a  temperature  so  high  that  a  for- 
eigner cannot  endure  it  except  after  long  practice.  The  baths  here  in  the 
mountains  were  just  suited  to  the  native  taste;  and  Frank  said  they  would 
be  suited  to  his  taste  as  well  if  they  could  have  a  few  blocks  of  ice  thrown 
into  them. 


A   JAPANESE    BATH. 


Public  and  private  baths  are  probably  more  numerous  in  Japan  than 
in  any  other  country.  The  qualities  of  most  of  the  natural  sources  are 
well  known,  and  thousands  flock  to  them  every  year  to  be  cured  of  real 
or  imaginary  maladies.  The  country  contains  a  great  number  of  these 
springs;  and,  since  the  arrival  of  foreigners,  and  a  careful  analysis  of  the 
waters,  certain  properties  have  been  discovered  that  were  not  known  be- 
fore. In  some  cases  the  curative  powers  of  the  Japanese  springs  are  re- 
markable, and  it  has  been  predicted  that  patients  will  one  day  come  to 
Japan  from  distant  lands  to  be  healed. 

The  Lake  of  Hakone  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  not  unlike  Lake 


FUSIYAMA  FROM  THE  LAKE. 


203 


204  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

Tahoe  in  California — an  aquatic  gem  in  a  setting  of  rngged  mountains. 
These  are  not  lofty,  like  the  mountains  of  the  Golden  State,  so  far  as  their 
elevation  above  the  lake  is  concerned  ;  but  they  rise  directly  from  the 
water,  and  jsresent  nearly  everywhere  a  bold  frontage.  The  surface  of 
the  lake  is  said  to  be  more  than  six  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea;  and  the  water  is  clear  and  cold.  Our  young  friends  tried  a  bath  in 
the  lake,  and  found  it  as  inconveniently  cold  as  the  springs  had  been  in- 
conveniently warm.  "Some  people  are  never  satisfied,"  said  Fred,  when 
Frank  was  complaining  about  the  temperature  of  the  water  in  the  lake. 
"You  wouldn't  be  contented  with  the  springs  because  they  boiled  you, 
and  now  you  say  the  lake  freezes  you.  Perhaps  we'll  find  something  by- 
and-by  that  will  come  to  the  point." 

The  boys  had  observed  that  the  farther  they  penetrated  from  Yoko- 
hama and  Tokio,  the  less  did  they  find  the  people  affected  in  their  dress 
and  manners  by  the  presence  of  the  foreigners.  Particularly  was  this  the 
case  with  the  women.  They  had  seen  in  the  open  ports  a  good  many 
women  with  blackened  teeth  ;  and  the  farther  they  went  inland,  the 
greater  did  they  find  the  proportion  of  the  fair  sex  who  had  thus  dis- 
figured themselves.  So  at  the  first  opportunity  they  asked  the  Doctor 
about  the  custom. 

"  I  know,"  said  Frank,  "  that  it  is  the  married  women  that  blacken 
their  teeth ;  but  how  does  it  happen  that  there  are  so  many  more  married 
ones  here  than  on  the  shores  of  Yeddo  Bay  ?" 

"  You  are  wrong  there,"  answered  the  Doctor ;  "  there  is  probably  as 
large  a  proportion  of  married  women  in  the  one  region  as  in  the  other. 
The  difference  is  that  the  custom  is  rapidly  falling  off." 

"  Is  there  any  law  about  it  ?"  Fred  inquired. 

"Not  in  the  least,"  Doctor  Bronson  explained.  "It  is  an  old  custom 
for  married  women  to  blacken  their  teeth,  and  formerly  it  was  most  rig- 
idly observed ;  but  of  late  years,  since  the  foreigners  came  to  Japan,  it  has 
not  been  adhered  to.  The  Japanese  see  that  a  married  woman  can  get 
along  without  having  her  teeth  discolored,  and  as  they  are  inclined  to  fall 
into  the  customs  of  Europe,  the  most  progressive  of  them  not  only  permit, 
but  require,  their  wives  to  keep  their  teeth  white." 

"  That  is  one  point,"  said  Frank,  "in  which  I  think  the  Japanese  have 
gained  by  adopting  the  European  custom.  I  don't  think  it  improves  their 
appearance  to  put  on  European  clothes  instead  of  their  own  ;  but  when  it 
comes  to  this  habit  of  blackening  the  teeth,  it  is  absolutely  hideous." 

From  this  assertion  there  was  no  dissent.  Then  the  question  naturally 
arose,  "  How  is  the  operation  performed  ?" 


FEMININE   CUSTOMS   IN   JAPAN.  205 

Doctor  Bi'onson  explained  that  it  was  done  by  means  of  a  black  paint 
or  varnisli,  peculiar  to  Japan.  The  paint  was  rubbed  on  the  teeth  with  a 
rag  or  stiff  brush,  and  made  the  gums  very  sore  at  first.  It  remained 
quite  bright  and  distinct  for  the  first  few  days,  but  in  the  course  of  a 
week  it  faded,  and  by  the  end  of  ten  or  twelve  da^'S  a  renewal  was  neces- 
sary. If  left  to  itself,  the  coloring  would  disappear  altogether  within  a 
month  from  the  time  of  its  application. 

Frank  wished  to  know  if  the  women  were  desirous  of  having  the  cus- 
tom abolished,  but  on  this  point  it  was  not  easy  for  him  to  obtain  precise 
information.  The  Doctor  thought  it  was  a  matter  of  individual  rather 
than  of  general  preference,  and  that  the  views  of  the  women  were  largely 
influenced  by  those  of  their  husbands.  "The  Japanese  wives,"  said  he, 
"are  like  the  wives  of  most  other  countries,  and  generally  wish  to  do  ac- 
cording to  the  tastes  and  desires  of  their  husbands.  As  you  grow  older 
you  will  find  that  the  women  of  all  lands  endeavor  to  suit  their  modes  of 
dressing  and  adornment  to  the  wishes  of  the  men  with  whom  they  come 
mostly  in  contact;  of  course,  there  are  individual  exceptions,  but  they  do 
not  weaken  the  force  of  the  general  rule.  In  America  as  in  England,  in 
China  as  in  Japan,  in  India  as  in  Peru,  it  is  the  fancy  of  the  men  that 
governs  the  dress  and  pe-rsonal  decoration  of  the  other  half  of  the  race.  As 
long  as  it  was  the  fashion  to  blacken  the  teeth  in  this  country,  the  women 
did  it  without  a  murmur;  but  as  soon  as  the  men  showed  a  willingness 
for  them  to  discontinue  the  practice,  and  especially  when  that  willingness 
became  a  desire,  they  began  to  discontinue  it.  Twenty  years  from  this 
time,  I  imagine,  the  women  with  blackened  teeth  will  be  less  numerous 
than  those  at  present  with  white  ones. 

"  The  abandonment  of  the  custom  began  in  the  open  ports,  and  is 
spreading  tlirough  the  country.  It  will  spread  in  exactly  the  same  ratio 
as  Japan  adopts  other  customs  and  ways  of  the  rest  of  the  world ;  and  as 
fast  as  she  takes  on  our  Western  civilization,  just  so  fast  will  she  drop 
such  of  her  forms  as  are  antagonistic  to  it." 

The  party  rested  a  portion  of  a  day  at  IIakone,and  then  went  on  their 
way.  Travelling  by  cango  had  become  so  wearison^e  that  they  engaged  a 
horse-train  for  a  part  of  the  way,  and  had  themselves  and  their  baggage 
carried  on  the  backs  of  Japanese  steeds.  They  found  this  an  improvement 
on  the  old  plan,  though  the  horses  were  rather  more  unruly  than  the  cango 
coolies,  and  frequently  made  a  serious  disturbance.  Occasionally,  when 
the  train  was  ready  to  start,  the  beasts  M^ould  indulge  in  a  general  kicking- 
match  all  around,  to  the  great  detriment  of  their  burdens,  whether  ani- 
mate or  otherwise.     The  best  and  gentlest  horses  had  been  selected  for 


206  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


ANTICS   OF   THE    HORSES. 


riding,  and  consequently  the  greatest  amount  of  circus  performances  was 
with  the  baggage  animals.  The  grooms  had  all  they  wished  to  attend  to 
to  keep  the  beasts  under  subjection,  and  not  infrequently  they  came  out 
of  the  contest  with  gashes  and  other  blemishes  on  their  variegated  skins. 
But  they  sliowed  great  courage  in  contending  with  the  vicious  brutes,  and 
it  is  said  of  a  Japanese  betto  that  he  will  fearlessly  attack  the  most  ill-tem- 
pered hoi*se  in  the  country,  and  not  be  satisfied  till  he  has  conquered  him. 

There  are  several  populous  towns  between  Ilakone  and  the  base  of 
Fusiyama.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Missimi,  Noomads,  and 
Ilarra,  none  of  them  containing  any  features  of  special  importance  after 
the  other  places  our  friends  had  seen.  Consequently  our  party  did  not 
halt  there  any  longer  than  was  necessary  for  the  ordinary  demands  of  the 
journey,  but  pushed  on  to  the  foot  of  the  Holy  Peak.  As  they  ap- 
proached it  they  met  many  pilgrims  returning  from  the  ascent,  and  their 
general  appearance  of  fatigue  did  not  hold  out  a  cheering  prospect  to  tlie 
excursionists.  But  they  had  come  with  the  determination  to  make  the 
journey  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  and  were  not  to  be  frightened  at 
trifles.  They  were  full  of  enthusiasm,  for  the  great  mountain  showed 
more  distinctly  every  hour  as  they  approached  it,  and  its  enormous  and 
symmetrical  cone  was  pushed  far  up  into  the  sky,  and  literally  pierced  the 
clouds.  At  times  the  clouds  blew  away;  the  sunlight  streamed  full  upon 
the  lofty  mass  of  ever-during  stone,  and  seemed  to  warm  it  into  a  tropical 
heat.  But  the  snow  lying  unmelted  in  the  ravines  dispelled  the  illusion, 
and  they  knew  that  they  must  encounter  chilling  winds,  and  perhaps 
biting  frosts,  as  they  ascended  to  the  higher  altitudes. 

There  lay  the  great  Fusiyama,  the  holy  mountain  of  Japan,  which 


AT  THE  MOUNTAIN'S  BASE. 


207 


208 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


they  had  come  so  many  thousand  miles  to  see.  In  the  afternoon  tlic 
clouds  rolled  at  its  base,  but  the  cone,  barren  as  a  hill  in  the  great  desert, 
was  uncovered,  and  all  the  huge  furrows  of  its  sloping  sides  were  dis- 
tinctly to  be  seen.  Close  at  hand  were  forests  of  the  beautiful  cedar  of 
Japan,  fields  of  waving  corn,  and  other  products  of  agriculture.  Not  far 
off  were  the  watei's  of  the  bay  that  sweeps  in  from  the  ocean  to  near  the 
base  of  the  famous  landmark  for  the  mariners  who  approach  this  part  of 
the  coast.  Now  and  then  the  wind  brought  to  their  ears  the  roar  of  the 
breakers,  as  they  crashed  upon  the  rocks,  or  rolled  along  the  open  stretches 
of  sandy  beach. 

Hitherto  they  had  been  favored  by  the  weather,  but  now  a  rain  came  on 
that  threatened  to  detain  them  for  an  indefinite  period.  It  blew  in  sharp 
gusts  that  sometimes  seemed  ready  to  lift  the  roof  from  the  house  where 


IN    A   STORM   NEAR   FCSIYAMA. 


they  were  lodged.  The  conductor  explained  that  these  storms  were  fre- 
quent at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  and  were  supposed  by  the  ignorant  and 
superstitious  inhabitants  of  the  region  to  be  the  exhibition  of  the  displeas- 
ure of  the  deities  of  Fusiyama  in  consequence  of  something  that  had 
been  done  by  those  who  professed  to  worship  them,  "When  the  gods  are 
angry,"  said  he,  "  we  have  storms,  and  when  they  are  in  good-humor  we 
have  fair  weather.  If  it  is  very  fine,  we  know  they  are  happy ;  and  when 
tlie  clouds  begin  to  gather,  we  know  something  is  wrong,  and  it  depends 
upon  the  amount  of  sacrifices  and  prayers  that  we  offer  whether  the 
clouds  clear  away  without  a  storm  or  not." 


BEGINNING  THE  ASCENT.  209 

Near  the  foot  of  the  mountain  there  are  several  monasteries,  where 
the  pilgrims  are  lodged  and  cared  for  when  making  their  religious  visits 
to  the  God  of  Fusiyama.  Some  of  these  are  of  considerable  importance, 
and  are  far  from  uncomfortable  as  places  of  residence.  Our  party  spent 
the  night  at  one  of  these  monastic  settlements,  which  was  called  Muri- 
yama,  and  was  the  last  inhabited  spot  on  the  road.  And  as  they  were 
considerably  fatigued  by  the  ride,  and  a  day  more  or  less  in  their  journey 
would  not  make  any  material  difference,  they  wisely  concluded  to  halt 
until  the  second  morning,  so  as  to  have  all  their  forces  fully  restored. 
Frank  said,  "This  day  doesn't  count,  as  we  are  to  do  nothing  but  rest; 
and  if  we  want  to  rest,  we  must  not  see  anything."  So  they  did  not  try 
to  see  anything ;  but  the  Doctor  was  careful  to  make  sure  that  their  con- 
ductor made  all  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  ascent. 

Early  on  the  second  morning  after  their  arrival,  they  started  for  the 
final  effort.  They  rode  their  horses  as  far  as  the  way  was  practicable,  and 
then  proceeded  on  foot.  Their  baggage  was  mostly  left  in  charge  of  the 
grooms  to  await  their  return,  and  such  provisions  and  articles  as  they 
needed  were  carried  by  "  yamabooshees,"  or  "  men  of  the  mountain,"  whose 
special  business  it  is  to  accompany  travellers  to  the  summit,  and  to  aid 
them  where  the  way  is  bad,  or  in  case  they  become  weary.  If  a  person 
chooses,  he  may  be  carried  all  the  way  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  and  back 
again  ;  but  such  an  arrangement  was  not  to  the  taste  of  our  robust  advent- 
urers. They  were  determined  to  walk,  and  walk  they  did,  in  spite  of  the 
entreaties  of  the  coolies  who  wanted  to  earn  something  by  transporting 
them.  In  addition  to  the  yamabooshees,  they  had  an  escort  of  two  "yoboos," 
or  priests,  from  one  of  the  temples.  These  men  were  not  expected  to  carry 
burdens,  but  simply  to  serve  as  guides,  as  they  were  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  road  and  knew  all  its  peculiarities. 

The  first  part  of  their  way  was  through  a  forest,  but,  as  they  ascended, 
the  trees  became  smaller  and  fewer,  and  their  character  changed.  At  the 
base  there  were  jjines  and  oaks,  but  they  gradually  made  way  for  beeches 
and  birches,  the  latter  being  the  last  because  the  hardiest.  From  the  for- 
est they  emerged  upon  the  region  of  barren  rock  and  earth  and  the  frag- 
ments left  b}^  the  eruptions  of  the  volcano.  The  last  eruption  took  place 
in  1707,  and  there  have  been  few  signs  of  any  intention  of  returning 
activity  since  that  date.  But  all  around  there  are  abundant  traces  of 
what  the  mountain  was  when  it  poured  out  its  floods  of  lava  and  cover- 
ed large  areas  with  desolation.  In  some  places  the  heaps  of  scoriae  appear 
as  though  the  eruption,  whence  they  came,  had  been  but  a  week  ago,  as 
they  are  above  the  line  of  vegetation,  and  their  character  is  such  that 

14 


210  'i'HE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

they  undergo  hardly  any  change  from  tlie  elements  from  one  century  to 
another. 

This  part  of  Japan,  and,  in  fact,  the  wliole  of  Japan,  has  a  good  deal 
of  volcanic  tire  pent  up  beneath  it.  Earthquakes  are  of  frequent  occur- 
rence, and  sometimes  they  are  very  destructive ;  wliole  towns  have  been 
destroyed  by  them,  and  as  for  the  little  ones  that  do  no  material  damage, 
but  simply  give  things  a  general  shaking-up,  they  are  so  frequent  as  to  be 
hardly  noticeable.  That  there  is  an  underground  relation  between  the 
disturbances  in  different  parts  of  the  country  is  evident,  and  the  tradition 
is  that  at  the  time  of  the  last  eruption  of  Fusiyama  the  ground  rose  con- 
siderably in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountain,  while  there  was  ;i  corresponding 
depression  of  the  earth  near  Kioto,  on  the  other  side  of  the  island.  Oc- 
casionally there  are  slight  rumblings  in  the  interior  of  Fusiyama,  but  none 
of  them  are  serious  enough  to  excite  any  alarm. 

From  the  place  where  our  friends  left  their  horses  to  the  summit  the 
distance  is  said  to  be  not  far  from  twenty  miles,  but  it  is  not  exactly  the 
equivalent  of  twenty  miles  on  a  level  turnpike  or  a  paved  street.  Frank 
said  it  reminded  him  of  a  very  muddy  road  somewhere  in  California,  M'hich 
a  traveller  described  as  nine  miles  long,  ten  feet  wide,  and  three  feet  deep ; 
and  he  thought  a  fair  description  of  the  way  up  the  mountain  would  in- 
clude the  height  and  roughness  as  well  as  the  length. 

The  path  wound  among  the  rocks  and  scoriae,  and  through  the  beds  of 
lava.  Altogether  they  found  the  ascent  a  most  trying  one,  and  sometimes 
half  wished  that  they  had  left  the  visit  to  Fusiyama  out  of  their  calcula- 
tions when  they  were  planning  how  to  use  their  time  in  Japan.  But  it 
was  too  late  to  turn  back  now,  and  they  kept  on  and  on,  encouraging  each 
other  with  cheering  words,  stopping  frequently  to  take  breath  and  to  look 
at  the  wonderful  panorama  that  was  unfolded  to  their  gaze.  The  air 
grew  light  and  lighter  as  they  went  on,  and  by-and-by  the  periods  when 
they  halted,  panting  and  half  suffocated,  became  as  long  as  those  devoted 
to  climbing.  They  experienced  the  same  difficulty  that  all  travellers  en- 
counter at  high  elevations,  and  Fred  remembered  what  he  had  read  of 
Humboldt's  ascent  of  the  high  peaks  of  the  Andes,  where  the  lungs  seem- 
ed ready  to  burst  and  the  blood  spurted  from  the  faces  of  himself  and  his 
companions  in  consequence  of  the  rarity  of  .the  atmosphere. 

About  every  two  miles  along  the  way  they  found  little  huts  or  caves, 
partly  dug  in  the  mass  of  volcanic  rubbish,  and  partly  built  up,  with  roofs 
to  protect  the  interior  from  the  rain.  These  were  intended  as  refuges  for 
the  pilgrims  for  passing  the  night  or  resting  during  storms,  and  had  no 
doubt  been  of  great  service  to  those  who  preceded  them.     At  one  of  these 


CLIMBING  THE  GREAT  MOUNTAIN. 


211 


ASCKST    OF    FLSIYAMA. 


212  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

tliej  halted  for  luncheon,  which  thej  took  from  the  pack  of  one  of  their 
bearers,  and  later  on  they  halted  at  another  to  pass  the  night.  It  is  con- 
sidered tc>o  great  a  journey  to  be  made  in  a  single  day,  except  by  persons 
of  unusual  vigor  and  long  accustomed  to  mountain-climbing.  The  cus- 
tonuiry  pLan  is  to  pass  a  night  on  the  mountain  when  little  more  than  half 
way  up,  and  then  to  finish  the  ascent,  and  make  the  whole  of  the  descent 
on  the  second  day. 

It  was  cold  that  night  in  the  upper  air,  and  there  was  a  strong  wind 
blowing  that  chilled  our  young  friends  to  the  bone.  Tlie  sleeping  accom- 
modations were  not  of  the  best,  as  there  were  no  beds,  and  they  had  noth- 
ing but  the  rugs  and  shawls  they  had  brought  along  from  the  foot  of  the 
mountain.  Fred  asked  if  there  was  any  danger  of  their  being  disturbed 
by  tigers  or  snakes,  and  was  speedily  reassured  by  Frank,  who  thought  that 
any  well-educated  beast  or  serpent  would  never  undertake  a  pilgrimage  to 
the  top  of  FusiNama ;  and  if  one  should  have  strayed  as  far  as  their  resting- 
place,  lie  would  be  too  much  played  out  to  attend  to  any  business.  But 
though  large  game  did  not  abound,  there  was  plenty  of  a  smaller  kind,  as 
they  found  before  they  had  been  ten  minutes  in  the  huts.  Previous  vis- 
itors had  left  a  large  and  well-selected  assortment  of  fleas,  for  which  they 
had  no  further  use,  and  their  activity  indicated  that  they  had  been  for 
sojne  time  without  food.  They  made  things  lively  for  the  strangers,  and 
what  with  chilling  winds,  hard  beds,  cramped  quarters,  and  the  voracity  of 
the  permanent  inhabitants  of  the  place,  there  was  little  sleep  in  that  hut 
during  the  time  of  their  stay. 

They  were  up  before  daylight,  and,  while  the  coffee  was  boiling,  the 
boys  watched  the  approach  of  morning.  They  looked  far  out  over  the 
waters  of  the  Pacific,  to  where  a  thin  line  of  light  was  curving  around  the 
rim  of  the  horizon.  At  first  it  was  so  faint  that  it  took  a  sharp  eye  to  dis- 
cover it,  but  as  they  watched  and  as  the  day  advanced  it  grew  more  and 
more  distinct,  till  it  rounded  out  like  a  segment  of  the  great  circle  engird- 
ling the  globe.  The  gleam  of  light  became  a  glow  that  seemed  to  warm 
the  w^aters  of  the  shimmering  ocean  and  flash  a  message  of  friendship  from 
their  home  in  another  land  ;  the  heavens  became  purple,  then  scarlet,  then 
golden,  and  gradually  changed  to  the  whiteness  of  silver.  Far  beneath 
them  floated  the  fleecy  clouds,  and  far  beneath  these  were  the  hills  of  Ila- 
kone  and  the  surrounding  plain.  Land  and  sea  were  spread  as  in  a  pict- 
ure, and  the  world  seemed  to  be  lying  at  their  feet.  The  boys  stood  spell- 
bound and  silent  as  they  watched  the  opening  day  from  the  heights  of 
Fusiyama,  and  finally  exclaimed  in  a  breath  that  they  Mere  doublj'  paid 
for  all  the  fatigue  they  had  passed  through  in  their  journey  thus  far. 


ON   THE   SUMMIT.  213 

The  light  breakfast  was  taken,  and  the  adventurers  moved  on.  At 
each  step  the  way  grew  more  and  more  difficult.  Every  mile  was  steeper 
than  its  predecessor,  and  in  many  instances  it  was  rougher.  The  rare- 
faction of  the  air  increased,  and  rendered  the  work  of  breathing  more  and 
more  severe.  The  travellers  panted  like  frightened  deer,  and  their  lungs 
seemed  to  gain  little  relief  from  the  rest  that  the  Doctor  and  his  young 
friends  were  compelled  to  take  at  frequent  intervals.  The  last  of  the  huts 
of  refuge  was  passed,  and  it  seemed  only  a  short  distance  to  the  summit. 
But  it  required  more  than  an  hour's  effort  to  accomplish  this  final  stage. 
The  boys  refused  all  ofifers  of  assistance,  and  struggled  manfully  on ;  but 
Doctor  Bronson  was  less  confident  of  his  powers,  and  was  glad  of  the  aid 
of  the  strong-limbed  and  strong-handed  yamabooshees.  All  were  glad 
enough  to  stand  on  the  summit  and  gaze  into  the  deep  gulf  of  the  crater, 
wliile  their  brows  were  cooled  by  the  clear  breezes  from  the  Pacific.  They 
were  at  the  top  of  Fusiyama,  14,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean  that 
lay  so  far  below  them,  eighty  miles  from  their  starting-point  at  Yokohama, 
and  their  vision  swept  an  area  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  nearly  two  hun- 
dred miles  in  diameter.  East  and  south  lay  the  broad  ocean.  West  and 
north  was  the  wondrous  land  of  Japan,  a  carpet  of  billowy  green,  rough- 
ened here  and  there  with  wooded  hills  and  small  mountains,  indented  with 
baj^s  and  with  silver  threads  of  rivers  meandering  through  it.  It  was  a 
picture  of  marvellous  beauty  which  no  f)en  can  describe. 

They  remained  an  hour  or  more  on  the  mountain,  and  then  began  the 
descent.  It  was  far  easier  than  the  upward  journey,  but  was  by  no  means 
a  pleasurable  affair.  The  boys  slipped  and  fell  several  times,  but,  luckily, 
received  no  severe  hurts ;  and  in  little  more  than  three  hours  from  the  top 
they  were  at  the  spot  where  the  horses  were  waiting  for  them.  Altogether, 
they  had  been  through  about  twelve  hours  of  the  hardest  climbing  they 
had  ever  known  in  their  lives.  Frank  said  he  didn't  want  to  climb  any 
more  mountains  for  at  least  a  year,  and  Fred  quite  agreed  with  him.  As 
they  descended  from  their  saddles  at  Muriyama,  they  were  stiff  and  sore, 
and  could  hardly  stand.  They  threw  their  arms  around  each  other,  and 
Frank  said : 

"Tlie  proudest  day  of  my  life — I've  been  to  tlie  top  of  Fusiyama." 

*'  And  it's  my  proudest  day,  too,"  Fred  responded  ;  "  for  I've  been  there 
with  you." 

As  they  rested  that  evening,  Frank  thought  of  some  lines  that  he  had 
seen  somewhere,  which  were  appropriate  to  the  journey  they  had  made, 
and  he  wound  up  the  day's  experiences  by  repeating  them.  They  were  as 
follows; 


214  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

"As  we  climb  from  the  vnle  to  the  liigh  moitntiiin's  ])eak, 
We  leave  the  green  fields  fai-  below ; 
We  go  on  through  tlie  forest,  beyond  it  we  seek 

Tiie  line  of  perpetual  snow. 
Cold  nnd  thin  grows  the  nir,  the  light  dazzles  oiu-  eyes, 

We  struggle  through  storm-cloud  and  sleet ; 
With  courage  undaunted  we  mount  toward  the  skies, 
Till  the  world  spreads  out  at  our  feet. 

"We  are  journeying  now  up  the  mountain  of  life. 

The  green  fields  of  youth  we  have  passed ; 
We"ve  toiled  through  the  forest  with  unceasing  strife. 

And  gained  the  bright  snow-line  at  last. 
We  are  whitened  by  frost,  we  are  chilled  by  the  bieezo — 

With  weariness  hardly  can  move; 
But,  faithful  to  duty,  in  our  work  we'll  ne'er  cease 

Till  we  look  on  the  world  from  above." 


DlVlS>i02sS  OF  THE  POrULATlON  OF  JAPAN.  215 


CHAPTER  XY. 

EXECUTIONS  AND  HARI-KARI. 

^r^HE  return  to  Yokohama  was  accomi3lished  without  any  incident  of 
-A-  consequence.  Fred  was  a  little  disappointed  to  think  that  their  lives 
had  not  been  in  peril.  "  Just  a  little  danger  for  the  fun  of  the  thing," 
he  remarked  to  Frank ;  and  at  one  time  on  the  way  he  was  almost  in- 
clined to  gloominess  when  he  reflected  on  the  situation.  "  There  hasn't 
been  any  attack  upon  us,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  when  there  might  have 
been  something  of  the  kind  just  as  well  as  not.  Not  that  I  wanted  any 
real  killing,  or  anything  of  the  sort,  but  just  a  little  risk  of  it  to  make 
things  lively.     It's  really  too  bad." 

He  was  roused  from  his  revery  by  the  Doctor,  who  told  him  they  were 
approaching  the  spot  where  some  Englishmen  were  set  upon  by  a  party 
of  two-sworded  Samurai,  in  the  early  times  of  the  foreign  occupation.  The 
attack  was  entirely  unprovoked,  and  quite  without  warning.  One  of  the 
Englishmen  was  killed  and  another  seriously  wounded,  while  the  natives 
escaped  unharmed.  Fred  wanted  to  know  the  exact  character  of  the  Sa- 
murai, and  why  they  were  nearh'  always  concerned  in  the  attacks  upon 
foreigners. 

"  It  is  a  long  story,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  "  and  I  am  not  sure  that  you 
will  find  it  altogether  interesting ;  but  it  is  a  part  of  Japanese  history  that 
you  ought  to  know,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Samurai  exist 
no  longer.  With  the  revolution  of  1868  and  the  consequent  overthrow  of 
the  old  customs,  the  Samurai  class  was  extinguished,  and  the  wearing  of 
two  swords  is  forbidden. 

"  The  population  of  Japan  was  formerly  divided  into  four  great  classes. 
The  first  was  the  military  and  oflicial  class,  and  these  are  what  were  called 
Samurai ;  the  second  was  the  farmer  class  that  rented  the  lands  from  the 
government,  and  engaged  in  agriculture ;  the  third  was  the  artisan  class, 
and  included  all  the  trades  and  occupations  of  an  industrial  character ;  and 
the  fourth  was  the  merchant  class,  including  all  kinds  of  traders  from  the 
wholesale  merchant  to  the  petty  peddler.     Of  course  there  were  subdivi- 


216 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


THU  FOUR  CLASSES  OF  SOCIETY. 


sions  of  these  classes,  and  sometimes  several  of  them  in  a  single  class,  but 
the  general  outline  of  the  system  is  as  I  have  stated  it.  Below  these 
classes,  and  outside  the  ordinary  scale  of  humanity,  were  the  Eta  and  Ilinin 
castes,  who  comprised  beggars,  tanners,  grave-diggers,  and,  in  fact,  all  per- 
sons who  had  anything  to  do  with  the  handling  of  a  dead  body,  whether 
human  or  of  the  lower  animals.  It  was  pollution  to  associate  with  a  per- 
son of  the  Eta  caste,  and  these  people  were  compelled  to  dwell  in  villages 
by  themselves.  As  they  were  not  respected  by  others,  they  had  no  great 
respect  for  themselves,  and  lived  in  the  most  filthy  condition.  They  could 
not  enter  a  house  where  other  people  lived,  and  were  not  permitted  to  sit, 
eat,  or  drink  with  others,  and  they  could  not  cook  their  food  at  the  same 
iire. 

"  This  was  the  way  society  in  Japan  was  made  up  till  the  revolution 
of  1868,  when  the  whole  fabric  was  swept  away,  and  the  principles  of  our 
Declaration  of  Independence  were  adopted.  The  Japanese  have  virtually 
declared  that  all  men  were  created  equal,  by  putting  the  classes  on  the  same 
level  and  abolishing  the  distinctions  of  caste.  The  Eta  and  Ilinin  castes 
were  made  citizens,  the  Samurai  (or  gentry)  were  deprived  of  their  hered- 


THE  DANGEROUS  CLASS.  21T 

itarj  rights,  and  the  feudal  princes  were  compelled  to  turn  their  posses- 
sions into  the  hands  of  the  general  government.  The  change  was  very 
great  for  all,  but  for  none  more  so  than  the  Samurai. 

"  These  fellows  had  been  for  centuries  a  class  with  extraordinary  priv- 
ileges. Their  ideas  in  regard  to  work  of  any  kind  were  like  those  of  their 
kindred  in  Europe  and  some  other  parts  of  the  world ;  it  would  degrade 
them  to  do  anything,  and  consequently  they  M'ere  generally  addicted  to  a 
life  of  idleness.  There  were  studious  and  enterprising  men  among  them, 
but  they  were  the  exceptions  rather  than  the  rule.  The  ordinary  Samurai 
was,  more  or  less,  and  usually  more,  a  worthless  fellow,  whose  sole  idea  of 
occupation  was  to  follow  the  lord  of  his  province  and  be  present  at  cere- 
monials, and,  for  the  rest,  to  spend  his  time  in  drinkiiig-shops  and  other 
improper  places,  and  indulge  in  occasional  fights  with  the  men  of  other 
clans.  They  were  the  only  persons  allowed  to  wear  two  swords ;  and  it 
was  the  constant  wearing  of  these  swords,  coupled  with  the  drinking  of 
sa-kee,  that  brought  on  most  of  the  difficulties  between  the  natives  and  the 
foreigners.  A  group  of  these  men  would  be  drinking  in  a  tavern,  and, 
while  they  were  all  heated  with  the  spirits  they  had  swallowed,  one  of 
them  would  propose  to  kill  a  foreigner.  They  would  make  a  vow  to  go 
out  and  kill  the  first  one  they  met,  and  in  this  mood  they  would  leave  tlie 
tavern  and  walk  along  the  principal  street.  They  would  fall  upon  the 
first  foreigner  they  met,  and,  as  they  were  three  or  four  to  one,  and 
were  all  well  armed,  the  foreigner  was  generally  slaughtered.  Mr. 
Heusken,  the  interpreter  of  the  American  Legation,  was  thus  murdered 
at  Yeddo  in  1861,  and  the  German  consul  at  Hakodadi  met  his  death  in 
the  same  way.  The  Samurai  were  the  class  most  opposed  to  the  en- 
trance of  foreigners  into  Japan,  and,  so  long  as  they  were  allowed  to 
wear  swords  and  inflame  themselves  with  sa-kee,  the  life  of  a  stranger  was 
never  safe." 

"  If  they  did  no  work,"  said  Frank,  "  how  did  they  manage  to  live  ?" 
"  They  were  supported  by  the  government,"  the  Doctor  answered,  "  in 
accordance  with  the  ancient  custom.  Every  Samurai  received  an  allow- 
ance, which  was  paid  to  him  in  rice,  the  staple  article  of  food,  and  what  he 
did  not  eat  he  could  convert  into  money.  His  pay  was  in  proportion  to 
his  rank,  and  the  great  number  of  Samurai  made  their  support  a  heavy 
burden  upon  the  laboring  class.  It  is  said  that  nine  tenths  of  the  product 
of  the  soil  went,  in  one  way  and  another,  for  taxes ;  that  is,  for  every 
hundred  bushels  of  rice  that  a  fanner  raised,  ninety  bushels  went  to  the 
local  and  general  governments,  and  only  ten  bushels  remained  to  the 
farmer.     It  was  by  being  thus  saddled  on  the  country  that  the  Samurai 


218 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


were  able  to  live  without  work,  and,  as  the  right  had  been  conceded  to 
thein  for  generations,  they  naturally  looked  with  contempt  upon  all  kinds 
of  industry.  Tlieir  dissipated  way  of  living  was  very  likely  to  lead  them 
into  debt,  just  as  it  leads  similar  men  into  debt  everywhere  else.  The 
merchants  and  tradesmen  of  all  kinds  were  their  victims,  as  the  law 
allowed  no  redress  for  the  wrongs  tlie}'^  committed.  They  would  some- 
times enter  a  shop,  select  what  goods  they  wanted,  hand  them  over  to  a 
servant,  and  then  leave  without  paying.  If  the  merchant  intimated  that 
he  would  like  to  be  paid  for  his  property,  they  became  very  insolent  and 
threatened  to  report  him  to  the  police  as  a  swindler.     They  would  enter  a 


TWO-SWORDKD   NOBLES. 


ABOLITION   OF  THE   SAMURAI. 


219 


tavern  or  tea-house  with  a  crowd  of  their  followers,  and,  after  eating  and 
drinking  what  they  wished,  walk  coolly  away.  If  the  landlord  asked  for 
payment,  he  was  not  very  likely  to  get  it ;  and  if  he  repeated  the  request, 
he  not  infrequently  had  his  head  slashed  off  by  the  sword  of  one  of  the 
offended  gentlemen.  The  head  of  a  landlord  was  not  of  much  conse- 
quence ;  but  he  was  generally  quite  unwilling  to  lose  it,  as,  when  once 
taken  off,  it  was  difficult  to  restore  it  to  its  place. 

"  If  the  Samurai  had  been  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  each  other, 
they  would  have  rendered  Japan  too 
hot  for  anybody  else  to  live  in.  But, 
fortunately  for  the  rest  of  the  popula- 
tion, there  were  many  feuds  among  the 
different  clans,  and  there  was  rarely  an 
occasion  when  one  clan  was  not  in 
open  warfare  with  some  other.  In 
this  way  they  devoted  their  energies 
to  cutting  each  other's  throats,  to  the 
great  delight  of  the  merchants  and 
tradesmen.  Where  two  clans  were  in 
hostility  to  each  other,  and  two  oppos- 
ing groups  met  in  the  streets,  they 
used  to  fall  to  fighting  without  cere- 
mony and  furnish  occupation  for  the 
coroner  before  the  interview  was  over. 
They  were  a  terror  to  all  the  rest  of 
the  populace ;  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
there  was  general  rejoicing  among  the 
other  classes  when  the  Samurai  ceased 
to  exist." 

Fred  asked  if  the  government  took  away  the  pensions  of  these  men 
and  gave  them  nothing  in  return. 

"  Not  by  any  means,"  the  Doctor  answered.  "  The  government  gave 
to  each  man  a  money  allowance,  or  gift,  to  take  the  place  of  his  pension, 
and  let  him  do  with  it  whatever  he  pleased.  Some  of  them  spent  it  in 
dissipation,  and  found  themselves  eventually  without  a  penny,  and  with 
no  means  of  obtaining  anything.  They  were  then  obliged  to  go  to  work 
like  other  people,  and  some  of  them  had  a  very  hard  time  to  exist.  I  was 
told  in  Yokohama  that  some  of  the  former  Samurai  were  working  as 
coolies  in  various  ways,  not  only  in  that  city,  but  all  through  the  empire. 
A  good  many  of  them  have  found  employment  among  the  foreign  mer- 


A    SAMUKAI    IN    WINTER    DRESS. 


220  THE   BOY  TKAVELLERS. 

chants  as  clerks  and  salesmen,  and  there  are  many  in  government  employ 
in  the  offices  at  Tokio  and  in  other  cities.  The  officere  you  saw  at  the 
custom-house  were  probably  ex-Samurai,  and  ten  years  ago  they  would 
have  been  wearing  two  swords  apiece.  The  Jupanese  book-keeper  you 
saw  in  the  office  of  tlie  American  merchant  on  whom  we  called  the  day  of 
our  arrival  was  once  a  Samurai  of  high  degree.  He  spent  his  government 
allowance  in  a  short  time  after  receiving  it,  and  was  then  compelled  to 
find  employment  or  starve.  He  tried  the  starvation  system  a  short  time, 
and  concluded  he  did  not  like  it.  He  turned  his  education  to  account  by 
undertaking  to  keep  the  Japanese  accounts  of  a  foreign  merchant,  and  liis 
employer  is  well  pleased  with  him. 

"  As  the  Samurai  were  the  military  class  before  the  revolution,  they 
retain  the  same  character,  to  a  large  degree,  under  the  present  system. 
They  are  the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  they  fill 
the  ranks  of  the  soldiery.  Those  who  accepted  the  cliange  and  remained 
loyal  to  the  government  have  received  appointments  where  there  were 
vacancies  to  be  filled,  and  the  strength  of  Japan  to-day  is  largely  in  the 
hands  of  the  old  Samurai.  But,  as  might  be  expected,  tliere  was  much 
discontent  at  the  change,  and  some  of  the  Samurai  went  into  open  rebell- 
ion against  the  government.  This  was  the  cause  of  the  revolt  in  1877, 
and  for  a  time  it  was  so  formidable  that  many  people  believed  it  would 
succeed.  Not  a  few  among  the  foreigners  predicted  that  the  Mikado 
would  be  dethroned,  and  the  power  of  the  Tycoon  restored ;  but  the  gov- 
ernment triumphed  in  the  end,  and  those  of  the  leaders  of  the  insurrection 
who  did  not  perish  in  battle  were  beheaded." 

Frank  asked  how  tlie  Japanese  performed  the  ceremony  of  beheading, 
and  whether  it  was  very  frequent. 

"As  to  that,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  "much  depends  upon  what  you 
would  call  frequent.  In  former  times  a  man  might  lose  his  head  for  a 
very  slight  reason,  or,  perhaps,  no  reason  at  all.  Crimes  that  we  would 
consider  of  small  degree  were  punished  Avith  death,  and  there  was  very 
little  time  wasted  between  the  sentence  and  its  execution.  As  the  Jap- 
anese have  become  more  and  more  familiar  with  the  customs  of  Western 
nations,  they  have  leanied  that  we  do  not  remove  the  heads  of  our 
people  for  trifles,  and  they  show  their  good  sense  by  following  our 
example.  Of  late  yeare,  executions  by  decapitation  are  much  less  fre- 
quent than  formerly,  but  even  now  there  are  more  of  them  than  there 
need  be. 

"  As  to  the  manner  of  performing  it,  a  few  words  will  describe  it. 
Tlie  ceremonies  that  precede  it  are  somewhat  elaborate,  but  the  affair 


BEHEADIJS'G   A   CRIMINAL. 


221 


itself  is  performed  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  or,  rather,  in  the  twinkling 
of  a  sword.     It  is  a  single  flash,  and  all  is  over. 

"  When  I  was  in  Japan  the  first  time,  I  was  invited  to  be  present  at  an 
execution,  and,  as  I  had  a  scientific  reason  for  being  there,  I  accepted  the 
invitation.  As  a  friend  and  my  self*  approached  the  prison  we  met  a  large 
crowd,  and  were  told  that  the  prisoner  was  being  paraded  through  the 
streets,  so  that  the  public  could  see  him.  There  was  quite  a  procession  to 
escort  the  poor  fellow,  and  the  people  seemed  to  have  very  little  sympathy 
for  him,  as  they  were  doubtless  hardened  by  the  frequency  of  these  oc- 
currences. In  front  of  the  procession  there  were  two  men  bearing  large 
placards,  like  banners.  One  of  the  placards  announced  the  name  and 
residence  of  the  victim,  and  the  other  the  crime  of  which  he  had  been 
convicted,  together  with  his  sentence.  Close  behind  these  men  was  the 
prisoner,  tied  to  the  horse  on  which  he  rode,  and  guarded  by  a  couple 
of  soldiers.  Following  him  were  more  soldiers,  and  then  came  a  couple 
of  officers,  with  their  attendants  ;  for  at  that  time  every  officer  had  a 
certain  number  of  retainers,  who  followed  him  everywhere.  We  joined 
the  party  and  went  to  the  prison-yard,  where  we  found  the  ground  ready 
prepared  for  the  execution.  But  first,  according  to  the  usual  custom, 
the   prisoner   was  provided  with   a 

hearty  breakfast;  and  it  was  rather  .^    _  ""  ^-  '"=^^^^^^  s^_^ 

an  astonishing  circumstance  that  he  '  "^"^^^L  ^  v^ 

ate  it  with  an  excellent  appetite, 
though  he  complained  of  one  dish 
as  being  unhealthy.  In  half  an  hour 
or  so  he  had  finished,  and  was  led 
to  the  spot  where  he  was  to  lose  his 
head.  He  was  required  to  kneel  be- 
hind a  small  hole  that  had  been  dug 
to  receive  his  head ;  a  bandage  was 
tied  around  his  eyes,  and  as  it  was 
fastened  he  said  'Sayonara'  to  his 
friends  and  everybody  present.  When 
all  was  ready,  the  officer  in  command 
gave  the  signal,  and  the  executioner, 
with  a  single  blow,  severed  the  head 
from  the  body.  It  fell  into  the  hole 
prepared  for  it,  and  was  immediate- 
ly picked  up  and  washed.  Then  the 
procession  was  formed  again,  and  the 


BEHEADING   A    CRIMINAL. 


222  THE  BOY  TRAVELLEltS. 

Iiead  was  taken  to  a  mound  by  the  side  of  the  road,  where  it  was  placed 
on  a  post.  According  to  law,  it  was  to  remain  there  six  days,  as  a  terror 
to  all  who  were  disposed  to  do  wrong.  It  was  the  first  Japanese  execu- 
tion I  ever  witnessed,  and  my  last." 

Frank  asked  the  Doctor  if  this  execution  was  anything  like  the  "hari- 
kari  "  of  which  he  had  read,  where  a  Japanese  was  said  to  commit  suicide 
by  cutting  open  his  stomach. 

"  Xot  by  any  means,"  was  the  answer ;  "  hari-kari  is  quite  another 
thing." 

"  Please  tell  us  how  it  is  performed,"  said  Fred. 

"  It  is  not  altogether  a  pleasant  subject,"  remarked  the  Doctor,  with  a 
slight  shudder;  "but  as  we  want  to  learn  all  we  can  of  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people  we  are  among,  and  as  we  are  now  among  the  Jap- 
anese, I  suppose  we  must  give  some  attention  to  hari-kari. 

"  To  understand  the  question  thoroughly,  it  will  be  necessary  to  bear 
in  mind  that  the  Oriental  way  of  thinking  is  very  often  the  exact  reverse 
of  our  way.  We  have  one  idea  of  honor  and  the  Japanese  have  another ; 
who  is  right  or  who  is  wrong  we  will  not  pretend  to  say,  as  each  party  has 
its  own  particular  views  and  will  not  readily  yield  to  the  other.  Writers 
on  Japan  differ  considerably  in  their  views  of  Japanese  points  of  honoi-, 
and  there  are  disagreements  on  the  subject  among  tlie  Japanese  them- 
selves; therefore  I  cannot  speak  with  absolute  exactness  about  it.  Ac- 
cording to  the  old  code,  all  persons  holding  ofiice  under  the  government 
were  required  to  kill  themselves  in  the  way  mentioned  whenever  they 
had  committed  any  crime,  though  not  till  they  had  received  an  order  to 
do  so  from  the  court.  If  they  disobeyed  the  order,  their  families  would 
be  disinherited,  and  none  of  their  descendants  would  be  allowed  to  hold 
office  ever  after ;  consequently  a  regard  for  one's  family  required  a 
cheerful  submission  to  the  custom.  There  was  no  disgrace  attached  to  a 
death  by  hari-kari,  and  in  former  times  its  occurrence  was  almost  an  every- 
day affair.  One  writer  says, '  The  sons  of  all  persons  of  quality  exercise 
themselves  in  their  youth,  for  five  or  six  years,  with  a  view  to  performing 
the  operation,  in  case  of  need,  with  gracefulness  and  dexterity ;  and  they 
take  as  much  pains  to  acquire  this  accomplishment  as  youth  among  us  to 
become  elegant  dancers  or  skilful  horsemen ;  hence  the  profound  con- 
tempt of  death  which  they  imbibe  in  early  years.'  Curious  custom,  isn't 
it,  according  to  our  notions  ?" 

Both  the  boys  thought  it  was,  and  said  they  were  glad  that  they  were 
not  born  in  a  country  where  such  ideas  of  honor  prevailed. 

The  Doctor  told  them  that  an  old  story,  which  he  had  no  doubt  was 


HABl-KAllI.  223 

true,  since  it  accorded  witli  the  Japanese  ideas  of  honor,  would  be  a  very 
good  ilhistration  of  the  subject.  It  was  concerning  two  liigh  officers  of 
the  court  who  met  one  day  on  a  staircase,  and  accidentally  jostled  each 
other.  One  was  a  very  quick-tempered  man,  and  demanded  satisfaction ; 
the  other  was  of  a  more  peaceable  disposition,  and  said  the  circumstance 
was  accidental,  and  could  be  amply  covered  by  an  apology,  which  he  was 
ready  to  make.  The  other  tried  to  provoke  him  to  a  conflict,  and  when 
he  found  he  could  not  do  so  he  drew  his  short-sword  and  slashed  himself 
open  according  to  the  prescribed  mode.  The  other  was  compelled,  as  a 
point  of  honor,  to  follow  his  example.  It  often  happened  that  where  one 
man  had  offended  another  the  court  required  that  tliey  should  both  per- 
form hari-kari,  and  they  always  did  so  without  the  least  hesitation.  And 
when  a  man  went  to  another's  house,  sat  down  and  disembowelled  him- 
self, the  owner  of  the  house  was  obliged  by  law  to  do  the  same  thing. 
There  was  no  escaping  it,  and  it  is  but  fair  to  the  Japanese  to  say  that 
they  did  not  try  to  escape  it. 

"If  you  are  deeply  interested  in  the  subject  of  hari-kari,"  said  the 
Doctor,  "  I  advise  you  to  read  Mitford's  book  entitled  '  Tales  of  Old 
Japan.'  Mr.  Mitford  lived  some  time  in  Japan  in  an  official  capacity,  and 
on  one  occasion  he  was  called  upon  to  be  present  at  the  hari-kari  of  an 
officer  who  had  given  orders  for  firing  on  some  foreigners.  He  gives 
an  account  of  this  affair,  including  a  list  of  the  ceremonies  to  be  ob- 
served on  such  an  occasion,  which  he  translated  from  a  Japanese  work 
on  the  subject.  Nothing  could  be  more  precise  than  the  regulations,  and 
some  of  them  are  exceedingly  curious,  particularly  the  one  that  requires 
the  nearest  friend  of  the  victim  to  act  as  his  second.  The  duty  of  the 
second  is  to  cut  off  the  principal's  head  at  the  moment  he  plunges  the 
knife  into  his  body.  It  is  a  post  of  honor,  and  a  gentleman  who  should 
refuse  thus  to  act  for  his  friend  would  be  considered  no  friend  at  all. 
Again  I  say  it  is  a  curious  custom  all  through. 

"  The  term  hari-kari  means  '  happy  despatch,'  and  for  the  Japanese  it 
was  a  happy  form  of  going  out  of  the  world.  It  is  still  in  use,  the  custom 
as  well  as  the  expression,  but  not  so  much  so  as  formerly.  The  Japanese 
ideas  of  honor  have  not  changed,  but  they  have  found  that  some  of  their 
ways  of  illustrating  them  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  customs  of 
Europe.  There  are  cases  of  hari-kari  now  and  then  at  the  present  time, 
but  they  are  very  private,  and  generally  the  result  of  the  sentence  of  a 
court.  At  the  termination  of  the  rebellion  of  1877,  several  of  the  officers 
concerned  in  it  committed  hari-kari  voluntarily  just  before  the  surrender, 
and  others  in  consequence  of  their  capture  and  sentence. 


22i 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


"In  the  administration  of  justice,"  Doctor  Bronson  continued,  "Japan 
has  made  great  progress  in  the  past  few  years.  Formerly  nearly  all  trials 
were  conducted  with  torture,  and  sometimes  the  witnesses  were  tortured 
as  well  as  the  accused.  The  instruments  in  use  were  the  refinement  of 
cruelty  :  heavy  weights  were  piled  on  the  body  of  a  prisoner ;  he  was 
placed  in  a  caldron  of  water,  and  a  fire  was  lighted  beneath  which  slowly 
brought  the  water  to  the  boiling-point ;  he  was  cut  with  knives  in  a  variety 
of  ways  that  indicated  great  ingenuity  on  the  part  of  the  torturers ;  in  fact, 
he  was  put  to  a  great  deal  of  pain  such  as  we  know  nothing  about.  Under 
the  old  system  the  only  persons  at  a  trial  were  the  prisoner,  the  torturer, 
the  secretary,  and  the  judge ;  at  present  the  trials  are  generally  open,  and 
the  accused  has  the  benefit  of  counsel  to  defend  him,  as  in  our  own  courts. 


JAPANESE    COURT    IN    THE    OLD    STTLE. 


Torture  has  been  formally  abolished,  though  it  is  asserted  that  it  is  some- 
times employed  in  cases  of  treason  or  other  high  crimes.  Law-schools 
have  been  established,  reform  codes  of  law  have  been  made,  and  certainly 
there  is  a  manifest  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  give  the 
best  system  of  justice  to  the  people  that  can  be  found.  Japan  is  endeav- 
oring to  take  a  place  among  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  show  that  she  is 
no  longer  a  barbarian  land.  The  United  States  have  been  the  foremost  to 
acknowledge  her  right  to  such  a  place,  but  their  action  has  not  been  sec- 
onded by  England  and  other  European  countries.  It  will  doubtless  come 
in  time,  and  every  year  sees  some  additional  step  gained  in  the  proper  di- 
rection. 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  NAVIGATION. 


225 


JAPANESE  NAVAL  OFFICER. 


"  As  I  liave  before  stated,"  the  Doctor  con- 
tinued, "  the  Japanese  have  made  great  progress  in 
military  and  naval  matters.  They  have  ship-yards 
at  several  places,  and  have  built  ships  of  their  own 
after^  the  European  models ;  in  addition  to  these, 
they  have  ships  that  they  bought  from  foreigners, 
but  they  are  entirely  commanded  and  managed  by 
their  own  officers,  and  equipped  with  crews  entii'ely 
Japanese.  The  old  war-junks  of  the  country  have 
been  discarded  for  the  modern  ships,  and  the  young 
Japanese  are  trained  in  the  Western  mode  of  war- 
fare ;  their  schools  for  naval  instruction  have  made 
remarkable  advancement,  and  the  teachere  who  were 
brought  from  other  countries  repeatedly  declared  that  they  never  had 
seen  anywhere  a  more  intelligent  assemblage  of  pupils  than  they  found 
liere.     The  Japanese  naval  officer  of  to-day  is  uniformed  very  much  like 

his  fellow-officer  in  Europe 
or  America,  and  his  manners 
are  as  polished  as  the  most 
fastidious  among  us  could 
wish.  The  Japanese  ships 
have  made  long  cruises,  and 
visited  the  principal  ports 
of  Europe  and  America, 
and  their  commanders  have 
shown  that  they  understand 
the  theory  and  practice  of 
navigation,  and  are  able  to 
take  their  ships  wherever 
they  may  be  ordered  to  go.  The  picture  of  a  Japanese  war-junk  of  the 
olden  time,  and  that  of  the  war-steamer  of  to-day  do  not  show  many  points 
of  resemblance.  They  illustrate  the  difference  between  the  old  and  the 
new,  very  much  as  do  the  cango  and  the  railway  car  when  placed  side  by 
side." 

The  Doctor  thought  he  had  given  the  boys  quite  as  much  information 
as  they  would  be  likely  to  remember  in  his  dissertation,  and  suggested 
that  they  should  endeavor  to  recapitulate  what  he  had  said.  Frank 
thought  the  discussion  had  taken  a  wide  range,  as  it  had  included  the  sta- 
tus of  the  four  classes  of  Japanese  society,  had  embraced  the  Samurai  and 
their  peculiarities,  some  of  the  changes  that  were  wrought  by  the  revolu- 

15 


JAPANESE  STEAM  COKVETTE. 


226 


THE   BOY  TIIAVELLERS. 


tion,  and  had  told  them  how  executions  were  conducted  in  former  times. 
Then  they  had  learned  something  about  hari-kari  and  what  it  was  for; 
and  they  had  learned,  at  the  same  time,  the  difference  between  the  old 
courts  of  justice  and  the  new  ones.  What  with  these  things  and  the  naval 
progress  of  the  empire  of  the  Mikado,  he  thought  they  had  quite  enough 
to  go  around,  and  would  be  lucky  if  they  remembered  the  whole  of  it. 

Fred  thought  so  too,  and  therefore  the  discussion  was  suspended,  with 
the  understanding  that  it  should  be  renewed  on  the  first  convenient  oc- 
casion. 


▲  JAPANESE  WAR-JUNK.  OF  THE   OLDEN  TIME. 


AMUSEMENTS  LN  JAPAN.  227 


CHAPTEK  XVI. 

AMUSEMENTS.— WRESTLERS   AND   THEATRICAL   ENTERTAINMENTS. 

AFTER  the  party  bad  recovered  from  the  fatigues  of  the  journey  to 
Fusiyarna,  the  boys  were  on  the  lookout  for  something  new.  Various 
suggestions  were  made,  and  finally  Frank  proposed  that  they  should  go  to 
a  theatre.  This  was  quite  to  Fred's  liking,  and  so  it  did  not  take  a  long 
time  to  come  to  a  determination  on  the  subject.  The  Doctor  agreed  that 
the  theatre  was  an  interesting  study,  and  so  the  matter  was  settled. 

"  What  time  in  the  evening  must  we  go,"  said  Fred,  "  so  as  to  be  there 
in  season  for  the  beginning  of  the  performance?" 

"  If  you  want  to  be  there  in  season  for  the  beginning,"  the  Doctor 
answered,  "  you  should  go  in  the  morning,  or,  at  all  events,  very  early  in 
the  day." 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  well  to  go  the  day  before?"  Frank  ventured  to  ask. 

"  Certainly  you  could  do  so,"  Fred  responded,  "  or  you  might  go  next 
week  or  last  summer." 

"  The  Japanese  performances,"  Doctor  Bronson  continued,  "  do  not  all 
begin  in  the  morning,  but  the  most  of  them  do,  and  they  last  the  entire 
day.  In  China  they  have  historic  plays  that  require  a  week  or  more  for 
their  complete  representation  ;  but  in  Japan  they  are  briefer  in  their 
ways,  and  a  performance  is  not  continued  from  one  day  to  the  next.  They 
have  greater  variety  here  than  in  China,  and  the  plays  are  less  tedious 
both  to  one  who  understands  the  language  and  to  one  who  does  not.  The 
Japanese  are  a  gayer  people  than  the  Chinese,  and  consequently  their  plays 
are  less  serious  in  character." 

It  was  agreed  that  a  day  should  be  given  to  amusements,  and  these 
should  include  anything  that  the  boys  and  their  tutor  could  find.  Frank 
went  in  pursuit  of  the  landlord  of  the  hotel,  and  soon  returned  with  the 
information  that  there  was  a  theatrical  performance  that  very  day  in  the 
native  theatre,  and  also  a  wrestling  match  which  was  sure  to  be  interest- 
ing, as  the  Japanese  wrestlers  are  different  from  those  ef  any  other 
country.     After  a  little  discussion  it  was  determined  that  they  would  first 


228 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


go  to  the  wrestling  match,  and  Frank  should  write  a  description  of  the 
wrestlers  and  what  they  did.  After  the  wrestling  match  was  disposed  of, 
they  would  take  up  the  theatre,  and  of  tliis  Fred  should  be  the  historian. 

Here  is  Frank's  account  of  the  wrestling  as  it  appeared  in  the  next 
letter  he  sent  home : 


A    JAPANESE    WRESTLER. 


WRESTLERS  IN   THE   RING.  229 

"  I  thought  we  were  going  to  a  hall,  but  it  was  nothing  of  the  sort,  as 
we  understand  a  hall.  We  went  into  a  large  tent,  which  was  made  by 
stretching  matting  over  a  space  enclosed  by  a  high  fence;  the  fence 
formed  the  walls  of  the  building,  and  the  matting  made  the  roof.  We 
had  the  ground  to  sit  on  or  stand  on,  but  soon  after  we  went  in  a  man 
brought  us  some  chaii-s,  and  we  sat  down.  In  the  centre  of  the  tent  there 
was  a  circular  mound  something  like  a  circus  ring ;  it  was  perhaps  two 
feet  high  and  ten  feet  across,  and  there  was  a  flat  place  outside  of  it 
where  the  master  of  ceremonies  was  to  stand  and  see  that  everything  was 
fair.  AVe  paid  twenty-five  cents  to  go  in,  and  then  we  paid  about  five 
cents  more  for  each  chair ;  of  course  we  were  in  the  best  places,  and  only 
a  few  others  were  in  that  part.  I  don't  know  how  much  the  Japanese 
paid  in  the  poor  places,  but  I  don't  believe  it  was  more  than  five  cents. 

"In  a  little  while  after  we  went  in,  the  performance  began.  A  boy 
came  into  the  ring  from  a  room  at  one  side  of  the  tent,  and  he  walked  as 
if  he  were  playing  the  king,  or  some  other  great  personage.  When  he  got 
to  the  middle  of  the  ring,  he  opened  a  fan  he  carried  in  his  right  hand. 
He  opened  it  with  a  quick  jerk,  as  though  he  were  going  to  shake  it  to 
pieces;  and  after  he  had  opened  it  he  announced  the  names  of  the  wres- 
tlers who  were  to  come  into  the  first  act.  If  I  hadn't  been  told  what  he 
was  doing,  I  should  have  thought  he  was  playing  something  from  Shak- 
speare,  he  made  such  a  fuss  about  it.  Then  he  went  out  and  the  wrestlers 
came  in,  with  a  big  fellow  that  Fred  said  must  be  the  boss  wrestler.  He 
looked  like  an  elephant,  he  was  so  big. 

"  The  wrestlers  were  the  largest  men  I  have  seen  in  Japan ;  and  the 
fact  is  I  didn't  suppose  the  country  contained  any  men  so  large..  As  near 
as  I  could  see,  they  had  more  fat  than  muscle  on  them ;  but  there  must 
have  been  a  good  deal  of  muscle,  too,  for  they  were  strong  as  oxen.  Doc- 
tor Bronson  says  he  has  seen  some  of  these  wrestlers  carry  two  sacks  of 
rice  weighing  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  each,  and  that  one  man 
carried  a  sack  with  his  teeth,  while  another  took  one  under  his  arm  and 
turned  somersets  with  it,  and  did  not  once  lose  his  hold.  The  Doctor 
says  these  men  are  a  particular  race  of  Japanese,  and  it  used  to  be  the 
custom  for  each  prince  to  have  a  dozen  or  more  of  these  wrestlers  in  his 
suite  to  furnish  amusement  for  himself  and  his  friends.  Sometimes  two 
princes  would  get  up  a  match  with  their  wrestlers,  just  as  men  in  Xew 
York  get  up  matches  between  dogs  and  chickens.  Then  there  were 
troupes  of  wrestlers,  who  went  around  giving  exhibitions,  just  as  they  some- 
times do  in  America.  But  you  never  saw  such  fat  men  in  all  your  life  as 
they  were ;  not  fat  in  one  place,  like  the  man  that  keeps  the  grocery  on 


230 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


A    PAIR    OF  WRESTLERS  AXD    THEIR    MANAGER. 


the  corner  of  the  public  square  in  our  town,  but  fat  all  over.  I  felt 
the  back  and  arms  of  one  of  them,  and  his  muscles  were  as  hard  as  iron. 
The  flesh  on  his  breast  was  soft,  and  seemed  like  a  thick  cushion  of  fat. 
I  think  you  might  have  hit  him  there  with  a  mallet  without  hurting  him 
much. 

"  Some  of  them  could  hardly  see  out  of  their  eyes  on  account  of  the 
fat  around  them ;  and  when  their  arms  were  doubled  up,  they  looked  like 
the  hams  of  a  hog.  I  was  told  that  the  Japanese  idea  of  a  wrestler  is  to 
have  a  man  as  fat  as  possible,  which  is  just  the  reverse  of  what  we  think 
is  right.  They  train  their  men  all  their  lives  to  have  them  get  up  all  the 
fat  they  can ;  and  if  a  man  doesn't  get  it  fast  enough,  they  put  him  to 
work,  and  tell  him  he  can  never  be  a  wTestler.  It  is  odd  tliat  a  people  so 
Jhin  as  the  Japanese  should  think  so  much  about  having  men  fat ;  but  I 
suppose  it  is  because  we  all  like  the  things  that  are  our  opposites.  But 
this  isn't  telling  about  the  wrestling  match, 

"After  the  herald  had  given  the  names  of  the  wrestlers  who  were  to 
make  the  first  round,  the  fellows  came  in.  They  were  dressed  without 
any  clothes  to  speak  of,  or  rather  they  were  quite  undressed,  with  the 
exception  of  a  cloth  around  their  loins.  They  came  in  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  ring,  and  stood  there  about  five  feet  apart,  each  man  resting  his 
hands  on  his  knees,  and  glaring  at  the  other  like  a  wild  beast.     They 


THE  JAPANESE   IDEA   OF  WRESTLING. 


231 


THE    CLINCH. 


looked  more  like  a  pair  of  tigers  than  human  beings,  and  for  a  moment  I 
thought  it  was  not  at  all  unlike  what  a  bull-fight  in  Spain  might  be. 

"  There  they  stood  glaring,  as  I  told  yon,  and  making  a  noise  like 
animals  about  to  fight.  They  stamped  on  the  ground  and  made  two  or 
three  rushes  at  each  other,  and  then  fell  back  to  watch  for  a  better  chance. 
They  kept  this  up  a  minute  or  so,  and  then  darted  in  and  clinched ;  and 
then  you  could  see  their  great 
muscles  swell,  and  realize  that 
they  were  as  strong  as  they  were 
fat. 

"  They  did  not  try  to  throw 
each  other,  as  we  do  when  we 
wrestle,  but  they  tried  to  push 
from  one  side  of  the  ring  to  tlie 
other.  I  couldn't  understand  this 
until  the  Doctor  told  me  that  it  is 
not  necessary  for  one  of  the  men 
to  be  thrown.  All  that  is  to  be 
done  is  for  one  of  them  to  push 
the  other  outside  the  ring;  and  even  if  he  only  gets  one  foot  out,  the  game 
is  up.  Only  once  during  all  we  saw  of  the  match  did  anybody  get  thrown 
down,  as  we  should  expect  to  see  him  in  a  wrestling  match  in  America. 
And  when  he  did  get  fairly  on  the  ground,  it  was  not  very  easy  for  him 
to  rise,  which  is  probably  the  reason  why  the  rules  of  the  Japanese  ring 
are  so  different  from  ours. 

"  They  had  several  matches  of  this  kind  with  the  two  men  standing 
up  facing  each  other  before  they  clinched ;  and  then  they  tried  another 
plan.  One  man  took  his  place  in  the  ring,  and  braced  himself  as  though 
he  were  trying  to  stop  a  locomotive*  When  he  was  ready  a  signal  was 
given,  and  another  man  came  out  full  tilt  against  him.  They  butted  their 
heads  together  like  two  rams,  and  tried  to  hit  each  other  in  the  breast. 
In  a  short  time  they  were  covered  with  blood,  and  looked  very  badly ;  but 
the  Doctor  says  they  were  not  hurt  so  much  as  they  seemed  to  be.  They 
kept  this  up  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  took  turns  at  the  busi- 
ness— one  of  them  being  bull  for  the  other  to  play  railway  train  against. 
It  was  as  bad  for  one  as  for  the  other;  and  if  I  had  my  choice  which  char- 
acter to  play,  I  wouldn't  play  either. 

"After  the  wrestling  was  over  they  had  some  fencing,  which  I  liked 
much  better,  as  there  was  more  skill  to  it  and  less  brutality.  The  fencers 
were  announced  in  the  same  way  as  the  other  performers  had  been.    They 


232  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

wore  large  masks  that  protected  their  heads,  and  their  fencing  was  with 
wooden  swords  or  sticks,  so  that  no  harm  was  done.  The  game  was  for 
each  to  hit  his  adversary's  liead,  and  wlien  tliis  was  done  a  point  was 
scored  for  the  man  who  made  the  hit.  Tliey  did  a  good  deal  of  shouting 
and  snarling  at  each  other,  and  sometimes  their  noise  sounded  more  as  if 
made  by  cats  than  by  human  beings.  In  other  respects  their  fencing 
was  very  much  like  ours,  and  was  very  creditable  to  the  parties  engaged 
in  it.  One  of  the  best  fencers  in  the  lot  was  a  young  girl.  She  wasn't 
more  tlian  sixteen  years  old,  and  she  had  arms  strong  enough  for  a  man 
of  thirty.  The  performance  ended  with  the  fencing,  and  then  we  went 
back  to  the  hotel. 

It  was  determined  tliat  the  evening  would  be  quite  early  enough  to  go 
to  the  theatre,  and  so  the  party  did  not  start  until  after  seven  o'clock. 
They  secured  a  box  at  one  side  of  the  auditorium,  where  they  could  see 
the  stage  and  the  audience  at  the  same  time.  When  you  go  to  the  play 
in  a  strange  land,  the  audience  is  frequently  quite  as  interesting  a  study  as 
the  performance,  and  sometimes  more  so.  In  no  country  is  this  more 
truly  the  case  than  in  Japan.  But  it  was  agreed  tliat  Fred  should  give 
the  account  of  the  play,  and  so  we  will  listen  to  him.     Here  is  his  story  : 

"  The  theatre  was  a  small  one,  according  to  our  notions,  but  it  was  well 
ventilated,  which  is  not  always  the  case  in  America.  The  man  that  sold 
the  tickets  was  very  polite,  and  so  was  the  one  who  took  them  at  the  door. 
The  latter  called  an  usher,  who  showed  us  to  our  box,  and  brought  the 
cliaire  for  us ;  and  then  he  brought  a  programme,  but  we  couldn't  read  a 
word  of  it,  as  it  was  all  in  Japanese.  We  cared  more  about  looking  at  the 
people  than  trying  to  read  something  that  we  couldn't  read  at  all;  and  so 
I  folded  up  the  programme  and  put  it  into  my  pocket. 

"  The  house  had  a  floor  and  galleries  like  one  of  our  theatres,  but  there 
were  only  two  galleries,  and  one  of  them  was  on  a  level  with  the  parquet. 
The  parquet,  or  floor,  was  divided  into  boxes,  and  they  Avere  literally 
boxes,and  no  mistake.  They  were  sqtiare,and  the  partitions  between  them 
were  little  more  than  a  foot  high,  with  a  flat  board  on  the  top  for  a  rail. 
This  was  about  five  inches  wide,  and  I  soon  saw  what  it  was  used  for,  as 
the  people  walked  on  it  in  going  to  and  from  their  boxes.  The  boxes 
had  no  chaire  in  them,  but  they  were  carpeted  with  clean  matting ;  and 
anybody  could  get  cushions  from  the  ushers  by  asking  for  them.  Each 
box  was  intended  to  hold  four  persons ;  but  it  required  that  the  four 
should  not  be  very  large,  and  that  each  should  stick  to  his  own  corner. 
One  box  in  front  of  us  had  six  women  in  it,  and  there  were  two  or  three 
boxes  crowded  with  children.     They  had  tea  and  sweetmeats  in  many  of 


THEATRICAL  COSTUME. 


233 


JAPANESE    ACTOK    DRESSED   AS    A    DOCTOR. 


234  TflE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

the  boxes,  and  I  noticed  that  men  and  boys  were  going  around  selling 
these  things.  I  asked  if  we  had  come  to  the  riglit  place,  as  it  occurred  to 
me  that  it  was  only  at  the  Bowery  and  that  kind  of  theatre  in  New  York 
that  they  sold  peanuts  and  such  things;  but  the  Doctor  said  it  was  all 
right,  and  they  did  this  in  all  the  best  theatres  in  Japan. 

"  Of  course,  if  they  come  and  stay  all  day,  they  must  have  something 
to  eat,  and  so  I  saw  the  reason  of  their  having  tea  and  other  refreshments 
peddled  about  the  house.  Then  there  were  men  who  sold  books  which 
gave  an  account  of  the  play,  and  had  portraits  of  some  of  the  principal 
players.  I  suppose  these  books  were  really  the  bills  of  the  play  ;  and  if  we 
could  have  read  them,  we  should  have  known  something  about  the  per- 
formance more  than  we  do  now. 

"While  we  were  looking  at  the  audience  there  came  half  a  doz(?n  raps 
behind  the  curtain,  as  if  two  pieces  of  wood  had  been  knocked  together; 
and  a  moment  after  the  rapping  had  stopped,  the  curtain  was  drawn  aside. 
It  was  a  common  sort  of  curtain,  and  did  not  open  in  the  middle  like 
some  of  ours,  or  roll  up  like  others ;  it  was  pulled  aside  as  if  it  ran  on  a 
wire,  and  when  it  was  out  of  sight  we  saw  the  stage  set  to  represent  a 
garden  with  lots  of  flower-pots  and  bushes.  The  stage  was  very  small 
compared  with  an  American  one,  and  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  feet 
deep ;  but  it  was  set  quite  well,  though  not  so  elaborately  as  we  would 
arrange  it.  The  orchestra  was  in  a  couple  of  little  boxes  over  the  stage, 
one  on  each  side,  and  each  box  contained  six  persons,  three  singers  and 
three  guitar-players.  This  is  the  regulation  orchestra  and  chorus,  so  they 
say,  in  all  the  Japanese  theatres,  but  it  is  sometimes  differently  made  up. 
If  a  theatre  is  small  and  poor,  it  may  have  only  two  performers  in  each 
box,  and  sometimes  one  box  may  be  empty,  but  this  is  not  often. 

"  The  orchestra  furnishes  music  by  means  of  the  guitar,  or  '  samisen.' 
It  is  played  something  like  our  guitar,  except  that  a  piece  of  ivory  is  used 
for  striking  the  strings,  and  is  always  used  in  a  concert  that  has  any  pre- 
tence to  being  properly  arranged. 
There  are  two  or  three  other  instru- 
ments, one  of  them  a  small  drum, 
which  they  play  upon  with  the  fingers ; 
but  it  is  not  so  common  as  the  samisen, 
and  I  don't  think  it  is  so  well  liked. 
Then  they  have  flutes,  and  some  of 
them  are  very  sweet,  and  harmonize 
well  with  the  samisen ;  but  the  singers 
THE  SAMISEN.  do  uot  likc  them  for  an  accompaniment 


THE  CHORUS  AND  SCENERY. 


235 


PLATING    THE    SAMISEN. 


unless  they  have  powerful  voices.  The  samisen-players  generally  sing, 
and  in  the  theatres  the  musicians  form  a  part  of  the  chorus.  A  good  deal 
of  the  play  is  explained  by  the  chorus  ;  and  if  there  are  any  obscure  points, 
the  audience  is  told  what  they  are.  I  remember  seeing  the  same  thing  al- 
most exactly,  or,  at 
any  rate,  the  same 
thing  in  principle, 
in  the  performance 
of  "Henry  Y."  at  a 
theatre  in  New  York  f| 
several  years  ago,  so 
that  this  idea  of  ha<^- 
ing  the  play  explain- 
ed by  the  chorus 
cannot  be  claimed 
as  a  Japanese  inven- 
tion. 

"In  the  theatre 
the  singing  goes  on  sometimes  wdiile  the  actors  are  on  the  stage,  and  we 
got  tired  of  it  in  a  little  while.  I  don't  suppose  the  Japanese  get  so  tired 
of  it,  or  they  would  stop  having  it.  Some  of  them  admit  that  it  would 
be  better  to  have  the  orchestra  in  front  of  the  stage,  as  we  do;  but  others 
say  that  so  long  as  the  chorus  must  do  so  much  towards  explaining  the 
play,  they  had  better  remain  where  they  are.  The  Japanese  seem  to  like 
their  theatre  as  it  is,  and  therefore  they  will  not  be  apt  to  change  in  a 
hurry. 

"Just  after  the  curtain  was  pulled  away,  they  opened  a  door  in  the 
middle  of  the  garden,  and  the  actors  who  were  to  be  in  the  play  came  in. 
They  sat  down  on  the  stage  and  began  a  song,  which  they  kept  up  for  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes,  each  of  them  singing  a  part  that  was  evidently  prepared 
for  himself  alone.  The  music  in  the  little  boxes  joined  them,  and  it  made 
me  think  of  the  negro  minstrels  in  a  concert  hall  at  home,  where  they  all 
come  on  together.  After  they  finished  this  part  of  the  performance,  there 
was  a  pantomime  by  a  woman,  or  rather  by  a  man  disguised  as  a  woman, 
as  all  the  acting  is  done  by  men.  They  get  themselves  up  perfectly,  as 
they  have  very  little  beards,  and  they  can  imitate  the  voice  and  move- 
ments of  a  woman,  so  that  nobody  can  tell  the  difference.  I  couldn't 
tell  what  the  pantomime  was  all  about,  and  it  was  so  long  that  I  got  tired 
of  it  before  they  were  through,  and  wondered  when  they  would  come  on 
with  something  else. 


236 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


SCENE    FROM  A    JAPANESE   COMEDT. — WRITING    A    LETTER    OF    DIVORCE. 


"Then  the  real  acting  of  the  piece  began,  and  I  wished  ever  so  much 
that  it  had  been  in  English,  so  that  I  could  understand  it.  The  story  was 
a  supernatural  one,  and  there  were  badgers  and  foxes  in  it,  and  they  had 
a  woman  changed  to  a  badger,  and  the  badger  to  a  woman  again.  Gentle- 
men who  are  familiar  with  Japanese  theatres  say  there  are  many  of 
these  stories,  like  our  Little  Red  liiding-hood,  and  other  fairy  tales,  acted 
on  the  stage,  and  tliat  the  play  we  saw  is  one  of  the  most  popular,  and  is 
called  '  Bumbuku  Chagama,'  or  '  The  Bubbling  Teapot.'  One  gentleman 
has  shown  me  a  translation  of  it,  and  I  will  put  it  in  here,  just  to  show 
you  what  a  Japanese  fairy  story  is  like. 

"'Once  upon  a  time,  it  is  said,  there  lived  a  very  old  badger  in  the 
temple  known  as  Morin-je,  where  there  was  also  an  iron  teapot  called 
Bumbuku  Chagama,  which  was  a  precious  thing  in  that  sacred  place.  One 
day  when  the  chief  priest,  who  was  fond  of  tea  and  kept  the  pot  always 
hanging  in  his  sitting-room,  was  about  taking  it,  as  usual,  to  make  tea  for 
drinking,  a  tail  came  out  of  it.  He  was  startled,  and  called  together  all 
the  little  bourf/e8,}ih  pupils, that  they  might  behold  the  apparition.  Sup- 
posing it  to  be  the  mischievous  work  of  a  fox  or  badger,  and  being  resolved 
to  ascertain  its  real  character,  they  made  due  preparations.  Some  of  them 
tied  handkerchiefs  about  their  heads,  and  some  stripped  the  coats  from 
their  shoulders,  and  armed  themselves  with  sticks  and  bits  of  firewood. 
But  when  they  were  about  to  beat  the  vessel  down,  wings  came  out  of  it ; 
and  as  it  flew  about  from  one  side  to  another,  like  a  dragon-fly,  while  they 
pui-sued  it,  they  could  neither  strike  nor  secure  it.     Finally,  however,  hav- 


STOKY   OF  BUMBUKU   CIIAGAMA.  237 


SCENE    FKOM    A    JAPANESE    COMEDY. LOVE-LETTER    DISCOVERED. 

ing  closed  all  the  windows  and  sliding-doors,  after  hunting  it  vigorously 
from  one  corner  to  another,  they  succeeded  in  confining  it  in  a  small  space, 
and  presently  in  capturing  it. 

'"While  they  were  consulting  what  to  do  with  it,  a  man  entered  whose 
business  it  was  to  collect  and  sell  waste  paper,  and  they  showed  him  the 
teapot  with  a  view  of  disposing  of  it  to  him  if  possible.-  He  observed 
their  eagerness,  and  offered  a  much  lower  price  than  it  was  wortli ;  but  as 
it  was  now  considered  a  disagreeable  thing  to  have  in  the  temple,  they  let 
him  have  it  at  his  own  price.  He  took  it  and  hastily  carried  it  away.  He 
reached  his  home  greatly  pleased  with  his  bargain,  and  looking  forward 
to  a  handsome  profit  the  next  day,  wlien  he  would  sell  it  for  what  it  was 
worth. 

"  '  Night  came  on,  and  he  lay  down  to  rest.  Covering  himself  with  his 
blankets,  he  slept  soundly. 

" '  But  near  the  middle  of  the  night  the  teapot  changed  itself  into  the 
form  of  a  badger,  and  came  out  of  the  waste  paper,  where  it  had  been 
placed.  The  merchant  was  aroused  by  the  noise,  and  caught  the  teapot 
while  it  was  in  flight.  By  treating  it  kindly  he  soon  gained  its  confidence 
and  affection.  In  the  course  of  time  it  became  so  docile  that  he  was  able 
to  teach  it  rope-dancing  and  other  accomplishments. 

'' '  The  report  soon  spread  that  Bumbuku  Chagama  had  learned  to  dance, 
and  the  merchant  was  invited  to  go  to  all  the  great  and  small  provinces, 
where  he  was  summoned  to  exhibit  the  teapot  before  the  great  daimios, 
who  loaded  him  down  with  gifts  of  gold  and  silver.     In  course  of  time  he 


238 


THE  BOY  TKAVELLEHS. 


TELLING    THE    STORY    OF    BUMBUICU    CIIAGAMA. 


reflected  that  it  was  only  through  the  teapot,  which  he  had  bought  so 
cheap,  that  lie  became  so  prosperous,  and  felt  it  his  duty  to  return  it 
again,  with  some  compensation,  to  the  temple.  lie  therefore  carried  it  to 
the  temple,  and,  telling  the  chief  priest  of  his  good  fortune,  offered  to  re- 
store it,  together  wuth  half  the  monej'  he  had  gained. 

" '  The  priest  was  well  pleased  with  his  gratitude  and  generosity,  and 
consented  to  receive  the  gifts.  The  badger  was  made  the  tutelary  spirit 
of  the  temple,  and  the  name  of  Bumbuku  Chagama  has  remained  famous 
in  Morin-je  to  this  day,  and  will  be  held  in  remembrance  to  the  latest  ages 
as  a  legend  of  ancient  time.' 

"  This  is  the  fairy  story,"  Fred  continued,  "  which  we  saw  on  the  stage ; 
but  it  was  varied  somewhat  in  the  acting,  as  the  badger  at  times  took  the 
form  of  a  woman,  and  afterwards  that  of  a  badger  again,  as  I  have  already 
told  you,  A  good  deal  of  the  acting  was  in  pantomime,  and  in  the  scene 
where  they  are  all  trying  to  catch  the  teapot  as  it  flies  around  the  room 
they  had  quite  a  lively  dance.  We  enjoyed  the  play  very  much,  but  I 
don't  care  to  go  again  till  I  know  something  about  the  Japanese  language. 
And  a  well-cushioned  chair  would  add  to  the  comfort  of  the  place." 


A  STORY  WITH  A  MORAL.  239 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

A  STUDY   OF  JAPANESE  ART. 

FRANK  thought  it  was  pretty  nearly  time  to  be  thinking  about  the 
purchases  he  was  to  make  for  Mary.  So  he  looked  up  the  paper  she 
gave  him  before  his  departure,  and  sat  down  to  examine  it.  The  list  was 
not  by  any  means  a  short  one,  and  on  consulting  with  the  Doctor  he 
learned  that  it  would  make  a  heavy  inroad  upon  his  stock  of  cash  if  he 
bought  everything  that  was  mentioned.  He  was  rather  disconcerted  at 
the  situation,  but  the  good  Doctor  came  to  his  relief. 

"  It  is  nothing  unusual,"  said  he,  "  for  persons  going  abroad  to  be 
loaded  down  with  commissions  that  they  are  unable  to  execute.  A  great 
many  people,  with  the  best  intentions  in  the  world,  ask  their  friends  who 
are  going  to  Europe  to  bring  back  a  quantity  of  things,  without  stopping 
to  think  that  the  purchase  of  those  things  will  involve  a  heavy  outlay  that 
cannot  be  easily  borne  by  the  traveller.  The  majority  of  people  who  go 
abroad  have  only  a  certain  amount  of  money  to  expend  on  their  journeys, 
and  they  cannot  afford  to  lock  up  a  considerable  part  of  that  money  in 
purchases  that  will  only  be  paid  for  on  their  return,  or  quite  as  often  are 
never  paid  for  at  all.  There  is  a  good  little  story  on  this  subject,  and  it 
may  be  of  use  to  you  to  hear  it. 

"  A  gentleman  was  once  leaving  New  York  for  a  trip  to  Europe,  and 
many  of  his  friends  gave  him  commissions  to  execute  for  them.  Some 
were  thouglitfnl  enough  to  give  him  the  money  for  the  articles  they 
wanted ;  but  the  majority  only  said,  '  I'll  pay  you  when  you  get  back,  and 
I  know  how  much  it  comes  to.'  "When  he  returned,  he  told  them  that  a 
singular  circumstance  had  happened  in  regard  to  the  commissions.  *  The 
day  after  I  sailed,'  said  he, '  I  was  in  my  room  arranging  the  lists  of  things 
I  was  to  get  for  my  friends,  and  I  placed  the  papers  in  two  piles ;  those 
that  had  the  money  with  them  I  put  in  one  pile,  and  the  money  on  top ; 
and  those  that  had  no  money  with  them  I  put  in  another  pile.  The  wind 
came  in  and  set  things  flying  all  around  the  room.  The  papers  that  had 
the  money  on  them  were  held  down  by  it,  but  those  that  had  no  money  to 


240 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


keep  them  in  place  were  carried  out  of  the  window  and  lost  in  the  sea. 
And  so  you  see  how  it  is  that  the  commissions  that  my  friends  gave  me 
the  money  for  are  the  only  ones  I  have  been  able  to  execute.' 

"  Bnt  in  the  present  case,"  said  Doctor  Bronson,  "  it  is  all  right,  as 
your  father  privately  gave  me  the  money  to  buy  the  articles  your  sister 
wants.  So  you  can  go  ahead  and  get  them  without  any  fear  that  you  will 
trench  on  the  amount  you  have  for  your  pei*8onal  expenses." 

The  boys  went  on  a  round  of  shopping,  and  kept  it  up,  at  irregular 
intervals,  during  their  stay  in  Japan.  And  in  their  shopping  excursions 
they  learned  much  about  the  country  and  people  tliat  they  would  not 
have  been  likely  to  know  of  in  any  other  way. 

One  of  the  first  things  on  the  list  was  a  silk  wrapper  with  nice  em- 
broidery. This  gave  rather  a  wide 
latitude  in  tlie  way  of  selection,  and 
Frank  was  somewhat  puzzled  what 
to  get.  He  went  to  the  store  of  one 
of  the  greatest  silk-merchants  of  Yo- 
kohajua  and  stated  his  wants.  He 
was  bewildered  by  the  variety  of 
things  placed  before  him,  and  by 
their  great  beautv  in  color  and  work- 
manship.  There  were  so  many  pret- 
ty things  for  sale  there  that  he  did 
not  know  when  to  stop  buying ;  and 
he  privately  admitted  to  Fred  that  it 
was  fortunate  he  was  restricted  in 
the  amount  he  was  to  expend,  or  he 
would  be  in  danger  of  buying  out 
the  whole  of  the  establishment.  Hs 
found  the  goods  were  admirably 
adapted  to  the  foreign  taste,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  they  preserved  the 
national  characteristics  that  gave 
them  value  as  the  products  of  Ja- 
pan. 

He  selected  a  robe  of  a  delicate 

blue,  and   finely  embroidered   with 

silk  of  various  colors.    The  embroideries  represented  flowers  and  leaves  in 

curious  combinations;  and  when  the  robe  was  placed  on  a  frame  where 

the  light  could  fall  full  upon  it,  Frank  thought  he  had  never  seen  anything 


FRAKK8    PDRCHASE. 


JAPANESE  FANS. 


241 


JAPANESE    I'ATTERN-DESIGNER. 


lialf  SO  pretty.  And  it  is  ^jroper  to  add 
that  he  bought  two  of  these  robes.  Why 
lie  should  buy  two,  when  he  had  only  one 
sister — and  she  would  not  be  likely  to  want 
two  wrappers  of  the  same  kind — I  leave 
the  reader  to  guess. 

Then  there  were  fans  on  the  list,  and 
lie  went  in  pursuit  of  fans.  Pie  found 
them,  and  he  thus  had  the  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  fan- makers  at  work.  He  found  that  there  is  a  great  variety  in 
the  fans  which  the  Japanese  make,  and  that  the  articles  vary  from  prices 
which  are  astonishingly  low  to  some  which  are  dear  in  proportion.  There 
is  such  a  large  trade  in  fans  that  he  expected  to  find  an  extensive  factory, 
employing  hundreds  of  hands.  He  found,  instead,  that  the  fan-makers 
work  on  a  very  small  scale,  and  that  one  person  generally  does  only  a 

small  portion  of  the  work, 
then  turns  it  over  to  an- 
other, who  does  a  little 
more,  and  so  on.  Cer- 
tain low-priced  fans  are 
all  finished  in  one  shop ; 
but  with  the  high  grades 
this  is  not  the  case,  and, 
from  first  to  last,  a  fan 
must  pass  through  a  good 
many  hands.  The  fan- 
makers  include  women  as 
well  as  men  in  theirguild ; 
and  Frank  thought  it  was 
by  no  means  an  unpleas- 
ant sight  to  see  the  wom- 
en seated  on  the  floor  in 
front  of  low  benches  and  gracefully  handling  the  parts  of  the  fan  that 
was  approaching  completion  in  consequence  of  their  manipulations. 

Mary  had  been  seized  with  the  prevailing  mania  for  Japanese  porce- 
lain, and  among  the  things  in  her  list  she  had  noted  especially  and  under- 
,scored  the  words  "  some  good  things  in  Japanese  cloisonne^  Frank  had 
seen  a  good  many  nice  things  in  this  kind  of  work,  and  he  set  about  se- 
lecting, with  the  help  of  the  Doctor  and  Fred,  the  articles  he  was  to  send 
home.     He  bought  some  in  Yokohama,  some  in  Tokio,  and  later  on  he 

16 


FAN-MAKEKS    AT   WORK. 


242 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


made  some  purchases  in  Kobe  and  Kioto.  We  will  look  at  what  he 
bought  and  see  if  his  sister  had  reason  to  be  pleased  when  the  consign- 
ment reached  her  and  was  unpacked  from  its  carefully  arranged  wrap- 
pings. 

For  hundreds  of  years  Japan 
has  been  famous  for  its  produc- 
tions of  porcelain  of  various 
kinds,  from  the  tiny  cup  no 
larger  than  a  lady's  thimble 
to  the  elaborately  decorated 
vase  with  a  capacity  of  many 
gallons.  Each  province  of  Ja- 
pan has  its  peculiar  product, 
and  sometimes  one  is  in  fashion, 
and  sometimes  another.  For 
the  last  few  years  the  favor 
has  turned  in  the  direction  of 
Satsuma  ware,  which  has  com- 
manded enormous  figures,  espe- 
cially for  the  antique  pieces. 
So  great  was  the  demand  for 
old  Satsuma  that  a  good  many 
manufacturers  turned  their  at- 
tention to  its  production.  They 
offer  to  make  it  to  any  amount, 
just  as  the  wine-dealers  in  New 
York  can  accommodate  a  cus- 
tomer with  wine  of  any  vintage 
he  requires,  if  he  will  only  give  them  time  enough  to  put  on  the  proper 
labels.  It  is  proper  to  say,  on  behalf  of  the  Japanese,  that  they  learned 
this  trick  from  the  foreigners;  and  their  natural  shrewdness  has  taught 
them  to  improve  upon  the  lesson,  so  that  in  some  instances  they  have  ac- 
tually sold  to  their  instructors  new  ware  for  old,  and  convinced  the  pur- 
chasers of  its  genuineness.  • 

We  have  not  space  enough  to  go  into  a  full  account  of  art  in  Japan, 
as  a  whole  volume  could  be  written  on  the  subject  without  exhausting  it. 
Frank  followed  the  directions  in  Mary's  note  to  find  some  good  things  in 
cloisonne  ^  and,  as  he  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  other  matters,  we 
will,  for  the  present  at  least,  follow  his  example  and  take  a  look  at  this 
branch  of  art  in  Japan. 


CHINESE   CLOISONNE   ON   METAL. 


PROCESSES   IN   JAPANESE   ART. 


243 


JAPANESE   CLOISONNE   ON   METAL. 


Frank  tlioiiglit  it  would  be  proper  to  have  his  sister  understaTid  the 
process  by  which  the  articles  she  desired  were  prepared,  and,  with  the 
assistance  of  Doctor  Bronson,  he  was  able  to  write  her  an  account  of  it 
that  she  could  study,  and,  if  she  chose,  could  read  or  tell  to  her  friends. 
Here  is  what  he  produced 


on  the  subject : 

"  The  term  cloisonne 
comes  from  the  French 
word  cloison,  which  means 
2i.  field  or  enclosure,  and  you 
will  see  as  you  go  on  how 
appropriate  it  is  to  this 
kind  of  work.  If  you  ex- 
amine the  bowl  which  you 
will  find  in   the  box,  you 


JAPANESE    liOW  r,, 


244 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


COVER   OF  JAPANESE   BOWX. 


will  see  that  it  has  a  ground- 
work of  light  blue,  and  that 
on  this  groundwork  there 
are  fine  threads  of  brass 
enclosing  little  squares  and 
other  figures  in  colors  quite 
different  from  the  body 
of  the  bowl.  If  you  look 
at  the  cover,  you  will  find 
that  these  squares  and  fig- 
ures are  repeated,  and  also 
that  there  are  three  cir- 
cles, like  plates  with  ser- 
rated edges,  that  seem  to 
be  lying  on  the  top  of  the 
cover.  These  plates,  or  cir- 
cles, have  pictures  of  flowers 
on  them,  and  the  designs  of  the  flowers  on  each  one  are  different  from 
those  of  the  other  two.  Every  leaf  and  petal  is  distinct  from  the  others 
by  means  of  the  brass  wires,  and  the  colors  do  not  at  any  time  run 
together. 

"In  the  first  place,  the  bowl  of  plain  porcelain  is  ground,  so  that  the 
enamel  will  stick  closely,  which  it  would  not  do  if  the  surface  were  glazed. 
Then  the  artist  makes  a  design,  on  paper,  of  the  pattern  he  intends  put- 
ting on  tlje  bowl.  When  his  design  is  finished,  he  lays  it  on  a  flat  surface, 
and  takes  little  pieces  of  brass  wire  which  has  been  passed  between  rollers 
so  that  it  becomes  flattened  ;  these  he  bends  with  pincers,  so  that  they  take 
the  shape  of  the  figure  he  wants  to  represent.  Thus  he  goes  over  his 
whole  design  until  every  part  of  the  outline,  every  leaf,  flower,  and  stem — 
in  fact,  ever}'  line  of  his  drawing — is  represented  by  a  piece  of  wire  bent  to 
the  exact  shape.  The  wire  then  forms  a  series  of  partitions;  each  frag- 
ment of  it  is  a  cell,  or  cloison^  intended  to  retain  the  enamel  in  place  and 
keep  the  colors  from  spreading  or  mingling.  That  is  the  first  step  in  the 
work, 

"  The  second  step  is  to  attach  these  flattened  threads  of  wire  by  their 
edges  to  the  bowl.  This  is  done  by  means  of  a  fusible  glass,  which  is 
spread  over  the  surface  of  the  bowl  in  the  form  of  paste ;  the  bits  of  wire 
are  carefully  laid  in  their  places  in  the  paste,  and  the  bowl  is  then  baked 
just  enough  to  harden  the  surface  and  make  it  retain  the  threads  where 
they  belong.     Now  comes  the  third  step. 


MAKING  CLOISONNE  PORCELAIN.  245 

"  This  consists  of  filling  the  little  cells  or  enclosures  with  the  proper 
enamel,  and,  to  do  this  correctly,  the  original  design  must  be  carefully 
followed.  The  design  is  drawn  in  colors,  and  as  the  artist  proceeds 
with  his  work  he  has  the  colors  ready  mixed  in  little  cups  that  are 
ranged  before  him.  These  colors  are  like  thick  pastes  of  powdered  glass 
mixed  with  the  proper  pigments,  and  one  by  one  the  cells  of  the  surface 
are  filled  up.  Then  the  groundwork  is  filled  in  the  same  way ;  and  when 
all  this  is  done,  the  bowl  is  put  into  the  oven  and  submitted  to  a  strong 
heat. 

"  The  baking  serves  to  fix  the  colors  firmly  in  their  cells,  as  the  fire  is 
hot  enough  to  melt  the  glass  slightly  and  fuse  it  to  a  perfect  union  with 
the  body  of  the  bowl.  For  common  work,  a  single  coating  of  enamel  and 
a  single  baking  are  sufficient,  but  for  the  finer  grades  this  will  not  answer. 
Another  coating  of  colors  is  laid  on,  and  perhaps  a  third  or  a  fourth,  and 
after  each  application  the  bowl  is  baked  again.  When  this  process  is  fin- 
ished, the  surface  is  rough,  and  the  bowl  is  not  anything  like  what  we  see 
it  now.  It  must  be  polished  smooth,  and,  with  this  object,  it  is  ground 
and  rubbed,  first  w^ith  coarse  stones,  then  w^ith  finer  ones,  then  with  emery, 
and  finally  with  powdered  charcoal.  In  this  way  the  bowl  was  brought 
to  the  condition  in  which  you  will  find  it,  if  it  comes  all  right  and  unin- 
jured from  the  box.  A  good  many  pieces  of  this  ware  are  broken  in 
the  handling,  and  consequently  they  add  to  the  price  of  those  that  come 
out  unharmed. 

"The  fine  threads  of  brass  that  run  through  the  surface  give. a  very 
pretty  appearance  to  the  work,  as  they  look  like  gold,  and  are  perfectly 
even  witli  the  rest  of  what  has  been  laid  on  to  the  original  bowl.  In 
some  of  the  most  expensive  of  the  enamel-work  the  threads  are  of  fine 
gold  instead  of  brass;  but  there  is  no  particular  advantage  in  having  them 
of  gold,  as  the  brass  answers  all  purposes  and  the  gold  serves  as  a  tempta- 
tion to  robbers.  There  is  an  endless  variety  of  designs  in  cloisonne  work, 
and  you  see  so  many  pretty  things  in  porcelain  that  you  are  at  a  loss  what 
to  choose. 

"  But  the  artists  do  not  confine  themselves  to  porcelain  ;  they  do  a 
great  deal  of  enamelling  on  metal,  and  some  of  their  productions  in  this 
way  are  quite  as  interesting  as  their  enamelling  on  porcelain.  .They  did 
not  invent  the  art,  so  it  is  said,  but  borrowed  it  from  the  Chinese,  who  had 
in  their  turn  borrowed  it  from  Persia  or  some  other  of  the  Central  Asiatic 
countries.  Some  of  the  Japanese  artists  claim  that  the  art  was  borrowed 
from  their  country,  but  the  most  of  those  who  have  studied  the  subject 
say  that  this  claim  is  incorrect.     But  no  matter  who  invented  the  process, 


246 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


it  is  very  beautiful  and  is  of  great  antiquity  ;  it  is  capable  of  a  gi*eat 
many  variations,  and,  although  it  has  been  in  use  for  centuries,  hardly 
a  year  passes  without  some  improvements  in  it.  In  making  the  metal 
enamels  the  strips  of  brass  are  soldered  to  the  surface  and  the  cavities  are 
filled  up  with  tiie  liquid  coloring.  Tiie  whole  is  then  baked  as  in  the 
porcelain  process,  and  the  surface  of  the  work  is  carefully  polished  until 
all  the  Hues  are  fully  developed  and  the  coujpleted  article  shines  like 
glass. 

"  I  shall  send  you,"  Frank  added,  "  several  specimens  of  this  kind  of 
work,  and  I  am  sure  that  all  of  you  will  be  delighted  with  them.  In 
addition  to  the  Japanese  enamel,  I  have  been  able  to  pick  np  a  few  from 

China  by  the  help  of  a  gentle- 
man M'ho  has  been  a  long  time 
in  the  country,  and  knows  where 
to  get  the  best  things.  And  as 
I  can't  get  all  I  want,  I  shall 
send  you  some  pictures  of  very 
rare  specimens,  and  you  can 
judge  by  them  of  the  quality  of 
what  you  have.  It  is  very  dif- 
ficult to  find  some  of  the  vari- 
eties, as  there  have  been  a  good 
many  men  out  here  making 
purchases  for  the  New  York 
and  London  markets,  and  they 
gather  up  everything  that  is 
curious.  The  demand  is  so 
great  that  the  Japanese  makers 
have  all  they  can  do  to  supply 
it ;  but  I  suppose  that  in  a  few 
years  the  taste  of  the  public 
will  clmnge,  and  then  you  can 
buy  all  you  want.  But  you 
can't  get  tii-ed  all  at  once  of 
the  pretty  things  that  I  have 
found ;  and  I  think  that  the  more  you  look  at  the  pictures  on  the  bowls 
and  plates,  the  more  you  will  admire  them.  You  are  fond  of  birds 
and  flowers,  and  you  will  find  them  on  the  porcelain ;  and  there  is  one 
piece  that  has  a  river  and  some  mountains  on  it,  as  well  defined  as  if  it 
were  a  painting  on  a  sheet  of  paper.     Look  at  the  bridge  over  the  river, 


CHINESE   METAL    VASE. 


THE   ARTICLES   IN   MARY'S  LIST. 


247 


MODERN   JAPANESE    CLOISONNE    ON    METAL. 


and  the  trees  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and  then  say  if  you  ever  saw 
anything  nicer.  I  am  in  love  with  the  Japanese  art  work,  and  sorry  T 
can't  buy  more  of  it.  And  I  think  that  is  the  case  M'ith  most  people  who 
come  to  Japan,  and  take  the  trouble  to  look  at  the  nice  things  it  con- 
tains." 

Mary's  list  included  some  carvings  in  ivor}'  and  some  lacquered  boxes 
to  keep  her  gloves  in.  These  were  not  at  all  difficult  to  iind,  as  they  were 
everywhere  in  the  shops,  and  it  would  have  been  much  harder  to  avoid 
them  if  he  had  wanted  to  do  so.  There  were  chessmen  of  ivory,  and  rep- 
resentations of  the  divinities  of  the  country ;  and  then  there  were  little 
statues  of  the  kings  and  high  dignitaries  from  ancient  times  down  to  the 
present.  As  it  M-as  a  matter  of  some  perplexity,  Frank  sought  the  advice 
of  Doctor  Bronson  ;  the  latter  told  him  it  would  be  just  as  well  to  re- 
strain himself  in  the  purchase  of  ivory  carvings,  as  there  M^as  better  work 
of  the  kind  in  China,  and  a  few  samples  of  the  products  of  Japan  would 


248 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLEKS. 


JAPANESE    METAL    CLOISdNNE. 

be  sufficient.  Frank  acted  npon  this  liint,  and  did  not  make  any  exten- 
sive investments  in  Japanese  ivoiy.  He  found  a  great  variety  of  what 
tlie  Japanese  call  "  nitschkis,''  which  are  small  pieces  of  ivory  carved  in 
various  shapes  more  or  less  fanciful.    They  were  pretty,  and  had  the  merit 

of  not  being  at  all  dear;  and  as  they 
would  make  nice  little  souvenirs  of 
Japan,  he  bought  a  good  many  of  them. 
They  are  intended  as  ornaments  to  be 
worn  at  a  gentleman's  girdle,  and  in  the 
olden  times  no  gentleman  considered  his 
dress  complete  without  one  or  moi"e  of 
these  at  his  waist,  just  as  most  of  the 
fashionable  youths  of  America  think 
that  a  scarf-pin  is  necessary  to  make 
life  endurable.  A  large  number  of 
carvers  made  a  living  by  working  in 
ivory,  and  they  displayed  a  wonderful 
amount  of  patience  in  completing  their 
designs.  One  of  these  little  carvings 
with  which  Frank  was  fascinated  was  a 
representation  of  a  man  mounting  a 
horse  with  the  assistance  of  a  groom, 
who  M'as  holding  the  animal.  The  piece 
was  less  than  two  inches  in  length,  and 
yet  the  carver  had  managed  to  put  in 
this  contracted  space  the  figures  of  two 
men  and  a  horse,  with  the  dress  of  the 
men  and  the  trappings  of  the  horse  as 
CHINESE  PORCELAIN  CLOISONNE.         carcfuUy  sliowH  as  in  a  painting.     There 


PIPE  AND   WAIST  ORNAMENTS. 


249 


was  a  hole  in  the  pedestal  on  which  tlie  group  stood,  and  Frank  found, 
on  inquiry,  that  this  hole  was  intended  for  the  passage  of  a  cord  to  at- 
tach the  ornament  to   the  waist  of  the 
wearer.     And  then  he  observed  that  all 
the  carvings  had  a  similar  provision  for 
rendering  them  useful. 

Frank  also  ascertained  that  another 
ornament  of  the  Japanese  waist-belt  was 
a  pipe  and  a  tobacco-pouch,  the  two  being 
so  inseparable  that  they  formed  a  single 
article.  The  pipe  was  a  tiny  affair  which 
only  held  a  pinch  of  tobacco  the  size  of 
a  pea,  and  he  learned  that  the  smoker,  in 
using  it,  took  but  a  single  whiff  and  then 
found  the  bowl  exhausted.     When   not 

in  use, the  pipe  was  carried  in  a  little  case,  which  was  made,  like  the  pouch, 
of  leather,  and  was  generally  embroidered  with  considerable  care.  Many 
of  the  pipe-cases  were  made  of  shark-skin,  which  has  the  double  merit  of 
being  very  durable  and  also  quite  pretty.  It  is  polished  to  a  condition  of 
perfect  smoothness,  and  the  natural  spots  of  the  skin  appear  to  be  as  reg- 
ular as  though  drawn  by  an  artist.  Frank  tried  a  few  whiffs  of  the  to- 
bacco and  found  it  very  weak.  He  was  tlius  informed  of  the  reason  why  jf 
Japanese  can  smoke  so  much  as  he  does  without  being  seriously  affected 
by  it.  He  can  get  through  with  a  hundred  of  these  little  pipes  in  a  day 
without  the  least  trouble,  and  more  if  the  time  allows. 


GROUP   CARVED   IN    IVORY. 


JAPANESE    PIPE,   CASE,  AND    PODCH. 


250  THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

Of  lacquer-ware,  of  all  kinds  and  prices,  there  was  literally  no  end. 
There  were  trays  and  little  boxes  which  could  be  had  for  a  shillinf^  or  two, 
and  there  were  cabinets  and  work-stands  witli  numerous  drawers  and  slid- 
ing panels  curiously  contrived,  that  a  hundred  dollars,  or  even  five  hundred, 
would  not  buv.  Between  these  two  fimires  there  "was  a  wide  ran":e,  so 
that  the  most  inodest  purse  could  be  gratified  as  well  as  the  most  plethoric 
one.  Frank  found  that  the  dealers  did  not  put  their  best  goods  where 
they  conld  be  most  readily  seen.  The  front  of  a  shop  contained  only  the 
most  ordinary  things;  and  if  you  wanted  to  look  at  the  better  articles,  it 
was  necessary  to  say  so.  When  the  merchant  knew  what  his  customer 
wanted,  he  led  the  way  to  the  rear  store,  or  perhaps  to  an  upper  iioor,  where 
the  best  goods  were  kept.  It  was  necessary  to  walk  very  carefully  in 
these  siiops,  as  they  were  very  densely  crowded  witli  goods,  and  the 
least  incaution  might  result  in  overthrowing  some  of  the  brittle  articles. 
A  clumsy  visitor  in  one  of  these  establishments  a  few  days  before  Frank 
called  there  had  broken  a  vase  valued  at  fifty  dollars,  and  while  stooping 
to  pick  up  the  fragments  he  knocked  down  another  worth  nearly  half  that 
amount.  He  paid  for  the  damage,  and  in  future  declined  to  go  around 
loosely  in  a  Japanese  store. 

The  Japanese  lacquer  of  the  present  time  is  not  so  highly  prized  as 
that  of  the  last  or  the  previous  century.  It  is  not  so  well  made,  partly 
for  the  reason  that  the  workmen  have  lost  their  skill  in  the  art,  and  part- 
ly because  labor  is  much  more  expensive  now  than  formerly.  The  prices 
obtained  for  some  of  the  specimens  of  this  kind  of  work  have  been  very 
high,  but  tliey  are  not  enough  to  meet  the  advance  that  has  been  made  in 
wages  in  the  past  few  years.  The  manufacturers  are  anxious  to  turn 
their  money  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  consequently  they  do  not  allow 
their  productions  to  dry  thoroughl}'.  To  be  properly  prepared,  a  piece 
of  lacquer  should  dry  very  slowly ;  and  it  used  to  be  said  that  the  best 
lacquer  was  dried  under  water,  so  that  the  process  should  not  be  too 
rapid.  The  article,  whatever  it  may  be,  is  first  shaped  from  wood  or 
papier-mache,  and  then  covered  with  successive  coatings  of  varnish  or 
lacquer :  this  is  made  from  the  gum  of  a  tree,  or,  rather,  from  the  juice, 
and  it  is  said  to  have  the  peculiar  property  of  turning  black  from  expos- 
ure to  the  air,  though  it  is  of  a  milky  whiteness  when  it  exudes  from  the 
tree.  It  can  be  made  to  assume  various  colors  by  the  addition  of  pig- 
ments ;  and  while  it  is  in  a  fresh  condition  coatings  of  gold-leaf  are  laid  on 
in  such  a  way  as  to  form  the  figures  that  the  artist  has  designed.  Every 
coating  must  be  dried  before  the  next  is  laid  on ;  and  the  more  elaborate 
and  costly  the  work,  the  more  numerous  are  the  coatings.     Sometimes 


EXCELLENCE  OF  JAPANESE  LACQUER. 


251 


there  may  be  a  dozen  or  more  of  them,  and  pieces  are  in  existence  that 
are  said  to  have  received  no  less  than  fifty  applications  of  lacquer.  A 
box  may  thus  require  several  years  for  its  completion,  as  the  drying  proc- 
ess should  never  be  hastened,  lest  the  lacquer  crack  and  peel  when  ex- 
posed to  the  air,  and  especially  to  heat.  Good  lacquer  can  be  put  into 
hot  water  without  the  least  injury  ;  but  this  is  not  the  case  with  the  or- 
dinary article. 

In  1874  a  steamer 
was  lost  on  the  coast  of 
Japan.  She  had  as  a 
part  of  her  cargo  the 
Japanese  goods  from  the 
Yienna  Exhibition,  and 
none  of  them  were  re- 
covered for  nearly  a 
year.  There  they  lay 
under  the  salt-water,  and 
it  was  supposed  that 
nearly  everything  would 
be  ruined.  Bnt  it  was 
found  that  the  lacquered 
ware  had  suffered  very 
little,  and  some  of  these 
very  articles  were  shown 
at  Philadelphia  in  1876. 

A  few  of  the  pieces  required  to  be  freshly  polished,  but  there  were  many 
of  them  that  did  not  need  even  this  slight  attention. 

The  boys  were  greatly  interested  in  their  shopping  excursions,  and 
learned  a  good  deal  about  Japanese  art  and  industry  before  they  had  end- 
ed their  purchases.  By  the  time  they  were  through  they  had  an  excel- 
lent collection  of  porcelain  and  other  ware,  of  ivory  carvings,  lacquered 
boxes,  and  similar  things ;  silk  robes,  wrappers,  and  handkerchiefs ;  and 
quite  enough  fans  to  set  up  a  small  museum.  They  tried  at  first  to 
get  a  sample  of  each  kind  of  fan  that  they  could  find,  but  the  variety 
proved  so  great  that  they  were  forced  to  give  up  the  attempt.  They 
bought  some  curious  articles  of  bamboo,  and  were  surprised  to  find  to  how 
many  uses  this  vegetable  production  is  put.  Frank  thought  it  was  a  pity 
the  bamboo  did  not  grow  in  America,  as  it  could  be  turned  to  even  more 
advantage  by  the  enterprising  Yankee  than  by  the  plodding  Oriental,  and 
Fred  was  inclined  to  agree  with  him.     They  changed  their  minds,  how- 


JAPANESE    ARTIST   CHASING   ON   COPPER. 


252 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


THE   BAMBOO  AND   ITS   USES.  253 

ever,  when  tlie  Doctor  told  them  how  far  the  hamboo  entered  into  the 
life  of  the  people  of  the  East,  and  on  the  whole  they  concluded  that  the 
American  conldn't  improve  upon  it. 

"  The  bamboo,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  is  of  use  from  a  very  early  age. 
The  young  shoots  are  boiled  and  eaten,  or  soaked  in  sugar,  and  preserved 
as  confectionery.  The  roots  of  the  plant  are  carved  so  as  to  resemble 
animals  or  men,  and  in  this  shape  are  nsed  as  ornaments ;  and  when  the 
bamboo  is  matured,  and  of  full  size,  it  is  turned  to  purposes  almost  with- 
out number.  The  hollow  stalks  are  used  as  water-pipes ;  rafts  are  made 
of  them ;  the  walls  and  roofs  of  houses  are  constructed  from  them ;  and 
they  serve  for  the  masts  of  smaller  boats  and  the  yards  of  larger  ones. 
The  light  and  strong  poles  which  the  coolies  place  over  their  shoulders 
for  bearing  burdens  are  almost  invariably  of  bamboo;  and  where  it  grows 
abundantly  it  is  used  for  making  fences  and  sheds,  and  for  the  construc- 
tion of  neai'ly  every  implement  of  agriculture.  Its  fibres  are  twisted  into 
rope,  or  softened  into  pulp  for  paper;  every  article  of  furniture  is  made 
of  bamboo,  and  so  are  hats,  umbrellas,  fans,  cups,  and  a  thousand  other 
things.  In  fact,  it  would  be  easier  to  say  what  is  not  made  of  it  in  these 
Eastern  countries  than  to  say  what  is;  and  an  attempt  at  a  mere  enumer- 
ation of  its  uses  and  the  articles  made  from  it  would  be  tedious.  Take 
away  the  bamboo  from  the  people  of  Japan  and  China,  and  you  would 
deprive  them  of  their  principal  means  of  support,  or,  at  any  rate,  would 
make  life  a  much  greater  burden  than  it  now  is." 


254 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

SOMETHING   ABOUT  JAPANESE  WOMEN. 

FRANK  thought  it  was  no  more  than  proper  that  he  should  devote 
a  letter  to  Miss  Effie.  He  wanted  to  make  it  instructive  and  inter- 
esting, and,  at  the  same  time,  lie  thought  it  should  appeal  to  her  personally 
in  some  way.  He  debated  the  matter  in  his  own  mind  M'ithout  coming  to 
a  conclusion,  and  finally  determined  to  submit  the  question  to  Doctor 
Bronson,  from  whom  he  hoped  to  receive  a  suggestion  that  would  be 
useful. 

The  Doctor  listened  to  him,  and  was  not  long  in  arriving  at  a  conclu- 
sion. 

"  You  have  just  written  to  Mary  on  the  subject  of  Japanese  art,"  said 
he,  "and  she  will  be  pretty  certain  to  show  the  letter  to  her  intimate 

friend." 

"Nothing  more  likely,"  Frank  an- 
swered. 

"  In  that  case,"  the  Doctor  contin- 
ued, "you  want  to  take  up  a  subject 
N     that  will   be   interesting  to   both,  and 
^¥\\^,jJ^f)^!^M^!^il^^^  that  has  not  been  touched  in  your  let- 

ters thus  far." 
"  I  suppose  so." 

"  AVell,  then,  as  they  are  both  wom- 
en, or  girls,  as  you  may  choose  to  call 
them,  why  don't  j'ou  take  up  the  sub- 
ject of  women  in  Japan  ?  They  would 
naturally  be  interested  in  what  relates 
to  their  own  sex,  and  3'ou  can  give 
them  much  information  on  that  topic." 
The  proposal  struck  Frank  as  an  ex- 
cellent one,  and  he  at  once  set  about 
A  JAPASK8E  lauy's-maiu.  obtaiuiug  tlic  ueccssary  information  for 


m^ 


WOMEN   IN  JAPAN. 


255 


BRIDK    AND    BRIDESMAID. 


the  preparation  of  his  letter.  He 
had  ah-eady  seen  and  heard  a  great 
deal  concerning  the  women  of  Japan, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  he  had 
all  the  material  he  wanted  for  his 
purpose.  His  letter  was  a  long  one, 
and  we  will  make  some  extracts  from 
it,  with  the  permission  of  Miss  Effie, 
and  also  that  of  Marj,  who  claimed 
to  have  an  interest  in  the  missive. 

"  From  w^hat  I  can  learn,"  Frank 
wrote,  "  the  women  of  Japan  are  bet- 
ter off  than  those  of  most  other  East- 
ern countries.  They  are  not  shut  up 
in  harems  and  never  allowed  to  sro 
about  among  people,  as  in  Turke}-; 
and  they  are  not  compelled  to  stay 
indoors  and  see  nobody,  as  in  many 
other  parts  of  the  world.  They  have  their  share  of  the  work  to  do ;  but 
they  are  not  compelled  to  do  all  of  it,  while  their  husbands  are  idle, 
as  in  some  parts  of  Europe,  and  among  the  American  Indians.  The 
system  of  harems  is  not  known  here ;  or,  at  all  events,  if  it  is  known,  it  is 

practised  so  little  that  we  never  hear 
anything  about  it.  The  Japanese 
women  do  not  veil  their  faces,  as  the 
w^omen  of  all  Mohammedan  coun- 
tries are  compelled  to  do;  and  they 
are  free  to  go  about  among  their 
friends,  just  as  they  would  be  if  they 
were  Americans.  They  blacken  their 
teeth  when  they  get  married ;  but 
this  custom  is  fast  dying  out  since 
the  foreigners  came  here,  and  proba- 
bly in  twenty  years  or  so  we  shall  not 
hear  much  about  it.  The  married 
women  dress  their  hair  differently 
from  the  single  ones  ;  and  when  you 
know  the  ways  of  arranging  it,  you 
can  know  at  once  whether  a  woman 
is  married  or  not.     I  suppose  they 


MERCHAXT  S    FAMILY. 


256 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


MYSTERIES    OF   THE    DRESSING-ROOM. 


CLOGS   AND   SANDALS. 


257 


do  this  for  the  same  reason  that  the  women  of  America  wear  rings  on  their 
fingers,  and  let  folks  know  if  they  are  engaged  or  married  or  single.  They 
remind  me  of  what  I  liave  read  about  the  Russian  women,  who  wear  their 
liair  uncovered  until  they  are  married,  and  then  tie  it  up  in  a  net,  or  in  a 
handkerchief.  It  is  much  better  to  have  a  sign  of  this  sort  than  to  have 
it  in  a  ring,  as  the  hair  can  be  seen  without  any  trouble,  while  you  have  to 
be  a  little  impertinent  sometimes  to  look  at  a  lady's  hand,  and  find  out 
how  her  rings  are. 

"In  China  the  women  pinch  their  feet,  so  that  they  look  like  doubled 
fists,  but  nothing  of  the  kind  is  done  in  Japan.  Every  woman  here  has 
her  feet  of  the  natural  shape  and  size ;  and  as  to  the  size,  I  can  say  that 
there  are  women  in  Japan  that  have  very  pretty  feet,  almost  as  pretty  as 
those  of  two  young  ladies  I  know  of  in  America.  They  do  not  have 
shoes  like  those  you  wear,  but  instead  they  have  sandals  for  staying  in  the 
house,  and  high  clogs  for  going  out  of  doors.  Tiie  clogs  are  funny-look- 
ing things,  as  they  are  four  or  five 
inches  high,  and  make  joii  think  of 
pieces  of  board  with  a  couple  of  nar- 
row pieces  nailed  to  the  upper  edges. 
They  can't  walk  fast  in  them,  but  they 
can  keep  their  feet  out  of  the  mud, 
unless  it  is  very  deep,  and  in  that  case 
they  ought  not  to  go  out  at  all.  I 
wish  you  could  see  a  Japanese  wom- 
an walking  in  her  clogs.  I  know  you 
would  laugh,  at  least  the  first  time 
3'ou  saw  one  ;  but  you  would  soon 
get  used  to  it,  as  it  is  a  very  com- 
mon sight. 

"  In  China  and  some  other  coun- 
tries it  is  not  considered  necessary  to 
give  the  girls  any  education ;  but  in 
Japan  it  is  not  so.  The  girls  are 
educated  here,  though  not  so  much 
as  the  boys ;  and  of  late  years  they  have  established  schools  where  they 
receive  wliat  we  call  the  higher  branches  of  instruction.  Every  year 
new  schools  for  girls  are  oj)ened ;  and  a  great  many  of  the  Japanese  who 
formerly  would  not  be  seen  in  public  with  their  wives  have  adopted  the 
Western  idea,  and  bring  their  wives  into  society.  The  marriage  laws 
have  been  arranged  so  as  to  allow  the  different  classes  to  marry  among 

17 


LADY    IN    WINTER    WAI.KING-DRESS. 


258  THE    BOY    TRAVELLERS. 

each  other,  and  the  government  is  doing  all  it  can  to  improve  the  condi- 
tion of  the  women.  They  were  better  off  before  than  the  women  of  any 
other  Eastern  conntry ;  and  if  things  go  on  as  they  are  now  going,  they 
will  be  still  better  in  a  few  years.     The  world  moves. 

"  A  gentleman  who  has  given  mnch  attention  to  this  subject  says  that 
of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  rulers  of  Japan,  nine  have  been  women ; 
and  that  the  chief  divinity  in  their  mythology  is  a  woman — the  goddess 
Kuanon.  A  large  part  of  the  literature  of  Japan  is  devoted  to  the  praise 
of  woman  ;  her  !idelity,  love,  pietj^,  and  devotion  form  the  groundwork  of 
many  a  romance  which  has  become  famous  throughout  the  country,  and 
popular  with  all  classes  of  readers.  The  history  of  Japan  abounds  in  sto- 
ries of  the  heroism  of  women  in  the  various  characters  of  patriot,  rebel, 
and  martyr ;  and  I  am  told  that  a  comparison  of  the  standing  of  women  in 
all  the  countries  of  the  East,  both  in  the  past  and  in  the  present,  would 
unquestionably  place  Japan  at  the  head. 

"  I  suppose  you  will  want  to  know  something  about  the  way  the  Japanese 
women  dress.  I'll  try  to  tell  you ;  but  if  I  make  any  mistakes,  you  must 
remember  that  I  have  not  had  much  practice  in  describing  ladies'  apparel. 

"  They  don't  wear  any  crinoline,  such  as  the  ladies  do  in  America ;  and 
their  clothes  fit  very  tight  around  them  when  compared  to  what  we  see 
in  Xew  York — that  is,  I  mean,  the}^  are  tight  in  the  skirts,  though  loose 
enough  above  the  waist.  They  fasten  them  with  strings  and  bands,  and 
without  hooks  or  buttons  or  pins.  You  remember  the  pocket  pin-cushion 
you  made  for  me?  of  course  you  do.  Well,  one  day  while  we  were  taking 
tea  in  a  Japanese  tea-house,  the  attendants  stood  around  looking  at  us, 
and  examining  our  watch-chains  and  the  buttons  on  our  coats.  I  showed 
them  that  pin-cushion,  and  they  passed  it  from  one  to  the  other,  and  won- 
dered what  it  was;  and  so  I  took  out  a  pin,  and  showed  it  was  for  carry- 
ing pins.  Evidently  they  did  not  know  what  a  pin  was  for,  as  they  looked 
at  it  very  curiously,  and  then  made  signs  for  me  to  show  them  its  use.  I 
did  so  by  pinning  up  the  wide  sleeve  of  one  of  the  black-eyed  girls.  She 
took  the  pin  out  a  moment  after  to  return  it  to  me ;  and  when  I  motioned 
that  she  might  keep  it,  she  smiled  and  said '  Arinyato,'  which  means  '  Thank 
you,'  as  sweetly  and  earnestly  as  though  I  had  given  her  a  diamond  ring. 
Then  I  gave  each  one  of  them  a  pin,  and  they  all  thanked  me  as  though 
they  really  thought  they  had  received  something  of  value.  Just  think  of 
it !  half  a  dozen  young  women,  not  one  of  whom  had  ever  seen  a  common 
dressing-pin ! 

"  Their  dresses  are  folded  around  them,  and  then  held  in  place  by  an 
oHj  which  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  wide  belt.     It  is  of  the  most 


ATTENDANT   OF   A   JAPANESE   TEA-HOUSE. 


259 


A    GIRL    WHO    HAD    NEVER    SEEN    A    DRESSING-l'IN. 


260 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


expensive  material  that  tlie  wearer  can  afford ;  and  sometimes  it  costs  a 
great  deal  of  money.  Generally  it  is  of  silk,  and  they  have  it  of  all  colors, 
and  occasionally  it  is  heavily  embroidered.    It  is  several  yards  long,  and  the 

work  of  winding  it  into  place  is  no 
small  alfair.  I  sliall  enclose  some  pict- 
ures of  Japanese  women  in  this  let- 
ter, and  you  can  see  from  them  what 
the  dress  of  the  women  looks  like, 
and  understand  much  better  than  you 
will  by  what  I  write.  I  think  the 
women  look  very  pretty  in  their  dress- 
es— much  better,  in  fact,  than  when 
they  put  on  European  garments. 
Their  hair  is  always  black,  and  they 
dress  it  with  more  grease  than  I  wish 
they  would.  It  fairly  makes  the  hair 
shine,  it  is  laid  on  so  thick.  But  they 
have  some  very  pretty  ornaments  for 
their  hair,  which  they  stick  in  with 
large  piUvS,  something  like  the  hair- 
pins you  use  at  home.  I  am  told  that 
you  can  distinguish  the  social  position 
by  the  number  and  style  of  the  hair- 
ornaments  worn  on  a  woman's  head ; 
but  I  have  not  yet  learned  how  to  do  it.  I  suppose  I  shall  find  out  if  I 
stay  long  enough  in  Japan. 

"  Of  course,  you  will  want  to  know  if  the  Japanese  women  are  pretty. 
Now,  you  mustn't  be  jealous  when  I  say  they  are.  Fred  thinks  so  too,  and 
you  know  it  won't  do  for  me  to  have  a  quarrel  with  Fred  when  we  are 
travelling  together,  and  especially  when  I  think  he's  right.  They  are  all 
brunettes,  and  have  sharp,  bright  eyes,  full  of  smiles,  and  their  skins  are 
clear  and  healthy.  They  look  very  pleasant  and  happy;  and  they  have 
such  sweet,  soft  voices  that  nobody  could  help  liking  them  even  if  he  didn't 
want  to.  They  have  such  nice  manners,  too,  that  you  feel  quite  at  your 
ease  in  their  company.  They  may  be  wishing  you  ten  thousand  miles  away, 
and  saying  to  themselves  that  they  hate  the  sight  of  a  foreigner;  but  if 
they  do,  they  manage  to  conceal  their  thoughts  so  completely  that  you  can 
never  know  them.  You  may  say  this  is  all  deception,  and  perhaps  it  is; 
but  it  is  more  agreeable  than  to  have  them  treat  you  rudely,  and  tell  you 
to  get  out  of  the  way. 


ladies'  HAIK-DRESSKIt. 


A   JAPANESE  LADY'S   TOILET. 


261 


"  There  are  women  here  who  are  not  pretty,  just  as  there  are  some  in 
America ;  but  when  you  are  among  them,  it  isn't  polite  to  tell  them  of  it. 
Some  of  them  paint  their  faces  to  make  them  look  pretty.  I  suppose  no- 
body ever  does  anything  of  the  kind  in  America  or  any  other  country 
but  Japan,  and  therefore  it  is  very  wicked  for  the  Japanese  ladies  to  do 
so.     And  when  they  do  paint,  they  lay  it  on  very  thick.    Dr.  Bronson  calls 


LADIES    AT    THEIR    TOILET. 


it  kalsoniining,  and  Fred  saj'S  it  reminds  him  of  the  veneering  that  is  some- 
times put  on  furniture  to  make  pine  appear  like  mahogany,  and  have  an 
expensive  look,  when  it  isn't  expensive  at  all.  The  'geishas,'  or  dancing 
and  singing  girls,  get  themselves  np  in  this  way  ;  and  when  the}  have  their 
faces  properly  arranged,  they  must  not  laugh,  for  fear  that  the  effort  of 
smiling  would  break  the  coating  of  paint.  And  I  have  heard  it  said  that 
the  covering  of  paint  is  so  thick  that  they  couldn't  smile  any  more  than  a 
mask  could ;  and,  in  fact,  the  paint  really  takes  the  place  of  a  mask,  and 
makes  it  impossible  to  recognize  anybody  through  it. 

"  It  is  the  iiile  in  Japan  for  a  man  to  have  only  one  wife  at  a  time,  but 
he  does  not  always  stick  to  it.  If  he  has  children,  a  man  is  generally  con- 
tented ;  but  if  he  has  none,  he  gets  another  Mife,  and  either  divorces  the 
lirst  one  or  not,  as  he  chooses.  Divorce  is  very  easy  for  a  man  to  obtain, 
but  not  so  for  the  M'oman ;  and  when  she  is  divorced,  she  has  hardly  any 
means  of  obtaining  justice.  But,  in  justice  to  the  Japanese,  it  should  be 
said  that  tlie  men  do  not  often  abuse  their  opportunities  for  divorce,  and 
that  the  married  life  of  the  people  is  about  as  good  as  that  of  most  coun- 
tries. Among  the  reasons  for  divorce,  in  addition  to  what  I  have  men- 
tioned, there  are  the  usual  ones  that  prevail  in  America.  Furthermore, 
divorce  is  allowed  if  a  wife  is  disobedient  to  her  husband's  parents,  and 


262 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


also  if  she  talks  too  much.  The  last  reason  is  the  one  most  frequently 
given  ;  but  a  woman  cannot  complain  of  her  husband  and  become  divorced 
from  him  for  the  same  cause.  I  wonder  if  Japan  is  the  only  country  in 
the  world  where  women  have  ever  been  accused  of  talking  too  much. 

"  Nearly  every  amusement  that  is  open  to  men  is  also  open  to  women. 
They  can  go  to  the  theatres,  to  picnics,  parties,  and  anj'thing  of  the  sort,  as 
often  as  they  please,  which  is  not  the  case  Mith  women  in  Moslem  coun- 
tries, and  in  some  others  that  are  not  Moslem.  They  are  very  fond  of 
boat  excursions,  and  on  pleasant  days  a  goodly  number  of  boating  parties 
may  be  seen  on  the  waters  around  Tokio  and  the  other  large  cities.  On 
the  whole,  they  seem  to  have  a  great  capacity  for  enjoyment,  and  it  is 
pretty  certain  that  they  enjoy  themselves. 


JAPANESE    LADIKS    ON    A    I'lCSIC. 


"  The  houses  in  Japan  are  so  open  that  you  can  see  a  great  deal  more 
of  the  life  of  the  people  than  you  would  be  likely  to  see  in  other  countries. 
You  can  see  the  women  playing  with  the  children,  and  there  are  lots  of 
the  little  ones  everywhere  about.  I  don't  believe  there  is  a  country  in  the 
world  where  there  is  more  attention  to  the  wants  of  the  children  than  in 
Japan,  and  I  don't  believe  it  is  possible  for  a  greater  love  to  exist  between 
parents  and  children  than  one  finds  here.  There  are  so  many  things  done 
for  the  amusement  of  children,  and  the  children  seem  to  enjoy  them  so 
much,  that  it  is  very  pleasing  to  study  the  habits  of  the  people  in  this  re- 
spect. I  have  already  told  you  about  the  amusements  at  the  temple  of 
Asakusa,  and  the  sports  and  games  that  they  have  there  for  the  children. 
They  are  not  only  at  that  temj^le,  but  all  over  Japan,  and  the  man  must 


KITE-FLYING  IN  JAPAN. 


263 


LADIES    AND    CHILDKKN    AT    PLAY. 


be  very  poor  to  feel  that  he  cannot  afford  something  to  make  his  children 
happy.  In  return,  the  children  are  not  spoiled,  but  become  very  dutiful  to 
their  parents,  and  are  ready  to  undergo  any  privations  and  sacrifices  for 
their  support  and  comfort.  Eespect  for  parents  and  devotion  to  them  in 
every  possible  v:nj  are  taught  by  the  religion  of  the  country ;  and,  what- 
ever we  may  think  of  the  heathenism  of  Japan,  we  cannot  fail  to  admire 
this  feature  of  the  religious  creed. 

"  It  would  amuse  you  if  you  could  see  the  interest  that  the  Japanese 
take  in  flying  kites.  And  the  funny  part  of  it  is  that  it  is  the  men  who 
do  the  most  of  the  kite-flying,  while  the  children  look  on,  which  is  the  ex-, 
act  reverse  of  what  we  do  in  our  country.  They  have  the  funniest  kinds 
of  kites,  and  show  a  great  deal  of  ingenuity  in  getting  them  up.  Every- 
body has  them,  and  they  are  so  cheap  that  even  the  beggars  can  have  kites 
to  fly.  They  are  of  all  sizes  and  shapes ;  you  can  buy  a  plain  kite  a  few 
inches  square,  or  you  can  get  one  as  large  as  the  side  of  a  house,  and  cover- 
ed all  over  with  dragons  and  other  things  that  sometimes  cost  a  neat  little 
sum  for  the  painting  alone.  The  Japanese  understand  the  trick  of  flying 
a  kite  without  a  tail,  and  they  do  it  by  the  arrangement  of  the  strings, 
which  is  quite  different  from  ours.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  their 
kites  will  have  a  whole  line  of  strings  hanging  down  as  ornaments,  and 
sometimes  it  looks  as  if  the  kite  were  anchored  by  means  of  these  extra 
cords.  They  make  their  kites  so  large  that  three  or  four  men  are  needed 
to  hold  some  of  them  ;  and  there  is  a  story  that  a  man  who  one  day  tied  the 
cord  of  a  kite  to  his  waist  was  taken  up  in  the  air  and  never  heard  of 


264 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


again.  And  tliere  is  another  story  of  a  man  in  tlie  eonntrj'  wlio  had  a 
kite  tliat  he  harnessed  to  a  plough,  and  when  the  wind  was  good  he  nsed 
to  plough  his  fields  by  means  of  it.  But  the  story  does  not  explain  how 
he  turned  the  furrow  when  he  reached  the  end  of  the  field.  Perhaps  he 
had  an  accommodating  wind  that  shifted  at  the  right  time. 

"  The  first  kite  I  saw  in  the  air  in  Japan  was  so  much  like  a  large  bird 


PECULIARITIES  OF  A   KITE. 


265 


that  I  mistook  it  for  one,  and  the  delusion  was  kept  up  by  a  smaller  one 
tliat  seemed  to  be  getting  awaj  from  the  other.  The  large  one  imitated 
the  movements  of  a  hawk  to  perfection,  and  it  was  some  minutes  before  I 
could  understand  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  combination  of  sticks  and  pa- 
per and  cords,  instead  of  a  real  live  bird.  It  rose  and  fell,  and  every  few 
uioments  it  swept  down  and  seemed  to  be  trying  to  swallow  the  little  one 
out  of  sight.  I  never  should  have  supposed  such  an  imitation  possible,  and 
M'as  tlioroughly  convinced  that  the  Japanese  must  be  very  fond  of  kite- 
flying if  they  give  it  the  study  necessary  to  bring  it  to  such  a  state  of 
perfection. 

"  The  more  I  see  of  the  Japanese,  the  more  I  like  them,  and  think  them 
a  kind-hearted  and  happy  people.  And,  from  all  I  can  see,  they  deserve  to 
be  happy,  as  they  do  all  they  can  for  the  pleasure  of  each  other,  or,  at  any 
rate,  all  that  anybody  ever  does." 


266 


THE  BOY  TKAVELLEKS. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  KOBE  AND   OSAKA. 

TIME  was  going  on,  and  it  became  necessary  that  our  travellers  should 
follow  its  example.  The  Doctor  engaged  places  for  them  by  the 
steamer  for  Kobe,  the  port  for  the  western  capital  of  Japan,  and  at  the 
appointed  time  they  went  on  board.  Before  their  departure,  they  had  an 
opportunity  to  visit  one  of  the  tea-packing  establishments  for  which  Yoko- 
hama is  famous,  and  the  process  they  witnessed  there  was  of  special  in- 


A    TILLAGE    IN    THE   TEA    UI8TKICT. 


terest  to  the  boj-s.     Here  is  the  account  that  Frank  gave  of  it  in  his  next 
letter  home : 

"The  Japanese  tea  is  brought  from  the  country  to  the  seaports  in 
large  boxes.     It  is  partially  dried  when  it  is  picked,  but  not  enough  to 


VISIT  TO  A  TEA -WAREHOUSE. 


267 


preserve  it  for  a  long  sea-voyage.  When  it  gets  here,  it  is  delivered  to 
the  large  establishments  that  make  a  business  of  shipping  teas  to  America ; 
and  let  me  say,  by  the 
way,  that  nearly  all  the 
tea  of  Japan  that  is  ex- 
ported goes  to  Ameri- 
ca, and  hardly  any  of  it 
to  any  other  country. 
When  we  went  into  the 
warehouse  —  they  call 
it  a  'go-down,'  from 
a  Hindostanee  word — 
they  showed  us  a  room 
where  tliere  were  prob- 
ably a  hundred  bushels 
of  tea  in  a  great  pile 
on  the  floor.  Men  were 
at  work  mixing  it  up 
with  shovels,  and  the 
clerk  who  showed  us 
around  said  that  tliey 
spread  all  the  tea  out 
in  layers,  one  over  the 
other,  and  then  mixed 
them  up.  He  said  it 
was  a  very  difficult  job 
to  have  the  teas  prop- 
erly mixed,  so  that  the 
samples  should  be  per- 
fectly even. 

"  We   saw  lots   of 
tea  in  another  room  where  the  same  kind  of  work  was  going  on ;  and 
then  they  took  us  to  the  tiring-room,  and  it  was  a  firing-room,  you  may 
believe. 

"  It  was  like  a  great  shed,  and  it  had  the  solid  ground  for  a  floor.  On 
this  floor  there  were  kettles,  or  pans,  set  in  brickwork,  and  each  one  of  them 
had  a  little  furnace  under  it,  in  which  there  was  a  charcoal  fire.  There 
must  have  been  two  hundred  of  these  pans,  and  the  heat  from  them  was 
so  great  that  it  almost  took  aAvay  my  breath.  I  don't  believe  I  could  exist 
there  a  day,  and  yet  there  were  people  who  had  to  spend  the  entire  day 


TEA-MKRCHANTS    IN    THE    INTEUIOK. 


268 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


in  the  firing-room,  and  go  there  day  after  day  besides.  Many  of  them 
were  women,  and  some  of  them  had  little  children  strapped  to  their  backs, 
and  there  was  a  whole  lot  of  children  in  a  little  room  at  one  side  of  the 
shed,  where  a  couple  of  women  were  looking  after  them.     How  I  did  pity 

the  poor  things!  Fred  and  I  just 
emptied  our  pockets  of  all  the 
small  change  we  could  find  in  them 
for  the  benefit  of  the  babies,  and 
I  wish  we  could  have  given  them 
more.  But  there  was  hardly  a  cry 
from  any  of  them,  and  they  seemed 
as  happy  and  contented  as  though 
their  mothers  were  queens,  instead 
of  toiling  over  the  firing -pan  in 
that  hot  room  for  ten  or  fifteen 
cents  a  day. 

"  They  put  a  pound  and  a  half 
of  tea  into  each  pan,  and  with  it 
they  put  a  teaspoonf  ul  of  some  col- 
oring substance  that  they  keep  a 
secret.  People  say  that  this  color- 
ing matter  is  Prussian  blue,  and 
others  say  it  is  indigo,  and  that  a 
little  gypsum  is  put  with  it,  so  as 
to  give  the  tea  a  bright  appearance. 
The  clerk  told  us  it  was  indigo 
and  gypsum  that  his  house  used, 
and  declared  that  it  Mas  all  false 
that  any  poisonous  material  was 
ever  put  in.  lie  said  thej'  only 
used  a  teaspoonful  of  their  mixture  to  a  charge  of  tea,  and  the  most  of 
that  little  quantity  was  left  in  the  pan  in  the  shape  of  dust.  When  I 
asked  him  why  they  put  anything  in,  he  said  it  was  to  make  the  tea  sell 
better  in  the  American  market.  It  looked  so  much  better  when  it  had 
been  'doctored'  that  their  customers  in  New  York  and  othercities  would 
pay  more  for  it,  though  they  knew  perfectly  well  what  had  been  done. 
Then  he  showed  me  some  of  the  tea  that  had  been  fired  and  put  side  by 
side  with  some  that  had  not.  I  must  say  that  the  fired  tea  had  a  polished 
appearance  that  the  other  had  not,  and  I  could  readily  understand  why  it 
sells  better. 


THE   TEA-PLANT. 


PREPARING   TEA   FOR   SHIPMENT. 


269 


"  As  I  have  said,  they  put  a  charge  of  a  pound  and  a  half  of  tea  into 

the  pan  with  a  teaspoonful  of  the  mixture,  and  they  have  a  fire  of  charcoal 

beneath  it.     The  man 

or  woman  that  does  the 

firing  stands  in  front  of 

the  pan  and  keeps  the 

tea  in  constant  motion. 

It  must  be  kept  moving 

all  the  time,  so  that  it 

will    not   be    scorched, 

and  it  must  be  gently 

rubbed  between  the  fin- 
gers in  order  to  polish 

it.     It  is   kept   in  the 

pan  eighty  minutes,  and 

then  is  considered  dry 

enough  for  the  packing- 
cases. 

"  You  know  how  a 

tea-chest  looks,  so  I  need 

not  describe  it  any  more 

than    to    say   that   the 

chest  is  lined  with  tin, 

and  that  the  tin  is  carefully  soldered,  so  that  not  a  single  particle  of  damp- 
ness can  get  in  while  the  tea  is  on  the  ocean.  If  it  should,  the  tea  would 
be  spoiled,  as  the  least  dampness  -will  injure  it,  and  a  great  deal  will 
make  it  quite  useless.  They  always  try  to  hurry  the  new  crop  of  tea  as 
rapidly  as  they  can,  since  it  is  the  best,  and  has  more  and  better  flavor 
than  the  crop  of  the  previous  year.  When  a  ship  sails  with  new  tea,  she 
races  for  home  as  hard  as  she  can  go,  and  the  quickest  voyages  ever 
made  from  this  part  of  the  world  to  Europe  and  America  have  been  made 
by  ships  w^ith  cargoes  of  new  tea." 

When  the  party  sailed  from  Yokohama,  they  found  themselves  on  board 
a  steamer  which  was,  and  was  not,  Japanese.  She  was  built  in  New  York, 
and  formerly  ran  between  that  city  and  Aspinwall.  Subsequently  she  was 
sent  to  Japan  in  the  service  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  and 
was  sold,  along  with  several  other  American  steamers,  to  a  Japanese  com- 
pany. This  company  was  formed  with  Japanese  capital,  and  its  manage- 
ment was  Japanese ;  but  the  ships  were  foreign,  and  the  officers  and  en- 
gineers were  mostly  English  or  American. 


FIKING    TEA. 


270 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


The  Doctor  told  the  boys  tliat  the  Mitsu  Bishi  Company,  as  this  Jap- 
anese organization  was  called,  was  increasing  every  year  the  number  of  its 
ships.  It  received  assistance  from  the  government  in  the  form  of  a  mail 
contract,  and  was  evidently  doing  very  well.  The  steamei-s  ran  once  a 
week  each  way  between  Yokohama  and  Shanghai,  touching  at  Kobe  and 
Nagasaki,  and  there  were  lines  to  other  ports  of  Japan.  The  Japanese 
were  studying  naval  architecture  and  making  good  progress,  and  the}'  hoped 
before  many  years  to  construct  their  own  ships.  Every  year  they  reduced 
the  number  of  foreigners  in  their  service,  and  some  of  their  establishments 
were  entirely  under  native  management. 

The  second  morning  after  leaving  Yokohama,  they  were  at  Kobe,  and 
the  steamer  anchored  off  the  town.     Kobe  and  Hiogo  are  practically  one 

and  the  same  place. 
The  Japanese  city  that 
stands  there  was  for- 
merly known  as  Hio- 
go, and  still  retains 
that  name,  while  the 
name  of  Kobe  was  ap- 
plied to  that  portion 
where  the  foreigners 
reside.  The  view  from 
the  water  is  quite  pret- 
ty, as  there  is  a  line  of 
mountains  just  back 
of  the  city ;  and  as 
the  boys  looked  in- 
tently they  could  see 
that  the  mountains  were  inhabited.  There  are  several  neat  little  houses 
on  the  side  of  the  hills,  some  of  them  the  residences  of  the  foreignei-s  who 
go  there  to  get  the  cool  air,  while  the  rest  are  the  homes  of  the  Japanese. 
There  is  a  liberal  allowance  of  tea-houses  where  the  public  can  go  to  be 
refreshed,  and  there  is  a  waterfall  where  a  mountain  stream  comes  rattling 
down  from  the  rocks  to  a  deep  pool,  where  groups  of  bathers  are  sure  to 
congregate  in  fine  weather.  The  town  stands  on  a  level  plain,  where  a 
point  juts  into  the  water,  and  there  is  nothing  remarkable  about  it.  If 
they  had  not  seen  Yokohama  and  Tokio,  they  might  have  found  it  in- 
teresting ;  but  after  those  cities  the  boys  w^ere  not  long  in  agreeing  that  a 
short  time  in  Kobe  would  be  all  they  would  wish. 

But  they  were  at  the  port  of  Osaka  and  Kioto,  and  their  thoughts  were 


HIOGO   (KOBE). 


TRAVELLING   BY   JUNK. 


271 


turned  towards  those  important  cities.  There  was  no  ditfieulty  in  going 
there,  as  the  railway  was  in  operation  to  Osaka,  twenty  miles,  and  to  Kioto, 
thirty  miles  farther  on.  But  Frank  was  seized  with  an  idea,  which  he 
lost  no  time  in  communicating  to  his  friends.     It  was  this : 

"  We  can  travel  by  rail  almost  anywhere,"  said  he,  "and  needn't  come 
away  from  America  to  do  so.  Now,  instead  of  going  to  Osaka  by  rail,  which 
wouldn't  be  anything  remarkable,  suppose  we  go  by  a  Japanese  junk. 
I  have  been  asking  the  hotel-keeper  about  it,  and  he  says  it  is  perfectly 
easy  to  do  so,  and  that  we  can  sail  there  with  a  fair  wind  in  a  few  hours." 

Fred  was  in  favor  of  the  junk  voyage  on  account  of  its  novelty.  Of 
course,  the  Doctor  was  not  likely  to  oppose  any  reasonable  scheme  that 
would  give  his  j'oung  companions  an  opj)ortunity  to  learn  something,  pro- 
vided it  did  not  consume  too  much  time.  Inquiry  showed  that  the  voyage 
could  be  made  there  with  a  fair  wind,  as  Fi*ank  had  suggested  ;  and,  as 
the  wind  happened  to  be  all  right  and  promised  to  continue,  it  was  agreed 
to  go  by  junk  on  the  following  morning,  provided  there  were  no  change. 

A  Japanese  servant,  who  spoke  English,  was  engaged  from  the  hotel  to 
accompanj^  the  party  during  their  journey.  He  was  sent  to  find  a  junk 
that  was  about  to  leave  for  Osaka,  and  in  half  an  hour  he  returned  with 
the  captain  of  one.  It  was  soon  settled  that  he  was  to  bring  his  craft  to 
the  anchorage  near  the  hotel  during  the  afternoon,  and  be  ready  to  receive 
his  passengers  and  their  luggage  at  daylight  if  the  wind  held  good.     The 


THE    JCN'K    AT    ANCHOR. 


272 


THE   BOY  TI^AVELLEUS. 


servant,  who  said  lie  was  named  "  John  "  by  the  first  European  that  ever 
employed  him,  and  had'stuck  to  it  ever  since,  was  kept  busy  during  the 
afternoon  in  making  preparations  for  the  journey,  as  it  was  necessary  to 
take  a  stock  of  provisions  very  much  as  the  party  had  equipped  themselves 
when  they  went  to  ascend  Fusiyama.  Everything  was  arranged  in  time, 
and  the  trio  went  to  bed  early,  as  it  would  be  necessary  to  rise  before  the 
sun,  and  they  wanted  to  lay  in  a  good  supply  of  sleep. 

The  junk  was  all  ready  in  the  morning;  and  as  soon  as  the  passengei*s 
were  on  board,  her  sail  was  lifted,  and  she  slowly  worked  her  way  through 
the  water.  The  wind  was  all  right  for  the  voyage  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river  where  Osaka  lay ;  and  if  they  had  been  on  a  sail-boat  such  as  all  New- 
Yorkers  are  familiar  with,  the  journey  would  have  been  over  in  three  or 
four  hours.  But  the  junk  was  not  built  for  racing  purposes,  and  the  most 
that  could  be  hoped  for  from  her  was  a  speed  of  about  three  miles  an 
hour.  This  was  no  detriment,  as  they  could  thus  make  the  mouth  of  the 
river  by  noon  ;  and  if  the  bar  could  be  easih'  crossed,  they  would  be  at  the 
city  long  before  sunset.     Life  on  a  junk  was  a  novelty,  and  therefore 

tiiey  were  not  annoyed 
to  think  that  their  craft 
was  not  a  swift  one. 

Fred  thought  that 
the  stern  of  the  junk 
was  about  the  funniest 
thing  in  the  way  of  a 
steering -place  he  had 
ever  seen  ;  and  to  make 
sure  of  remembering  it, 
he  made  a  sketch  of  the 
helmsman  at  his  post. 
Frank  insisted  that  he 
was  not  there  at  all,  as 
his-  post  was  evidently 
the  rudder-post,  and  it 
was  at  least  ten  feet  off, 
owing  to  the  length  of 
the  tiller.  The  deck 
where  the  man  stood 
had  a  slope  like  that  of 
a  house-roof,  and  it  was 
a  mystery  to  the  boys 


the:  helmsman  at  his  post. 


BELOW   THE   DECK  OF  A  JUNK 


273 


how  the  sailors  could  stand  there  when  the  planks  were  wet  by  the  spray, 
or  the  sea  was  at  all  rough.  But  there  was  no  denying  that  they  did  stay 
there,  and  so  the  boys  concluded  that  the  men  must  have  claws  on  their 
feet  like  those  with  which  a  tiger  is  equipped.  Fred  remarked  that  the 
steep  incline  reminded  him  of  a  conundrum  he  had  somewhere  heard, 
which  was  as  follows : 

"  AVliy  is  a  dog  with  a  broken  leg  like  the  space  between  the  eaves 
and  the  ridge  of  a  house  ?"' 

Frank  could  not  answer,  and  the  question  was  propounded  to  Dr. 
Bronson  ;  the  latter  shook  his  head,  and  then  Fred  responded,  in  triumph, 
"  Because  he  is  a  slow  pup."  It  was  three  seconds  at  least  before  Frank 
could  see  the  point  of  the  joke. 

The  boys  had  too  much  to  do  in  the  way  of  sight-seeing  to  spend  more 
time  over  conundrums.  They  proceeded  to  explore  the  interior  of  the 
junk,  and  to  look  about  the  decks  in  the  hope  of  finding  something  new  in 
the  way  of  navigation.  They  discovered  that  there  was  considerable  space 
for  the  stowage  of  cargo,  in  consequence  of  the  great  width  of  the  craft  in 
proportion  to  her  length.  The  accommodations  of  the  crew  were  not  ex- 
tensive ;  but  as  they  did  not  expect  much,  they  were  not  likely  to  complain. 
As  the  boys  were  near  the  bow  of  the  junk,  they  came  upon  two  of  the 
sailors  at  dinner ;    the  meal  consisting  of  rice  and  fish,  which  they  ate 


JAPANESE    SAILOKS    AT    DINNJiK. 


18 


274 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


with  tlie  aid  of  chopsticks.  The  men  were  sqviatted  ou  the  deck  in  front 
of  their  food,  or  rather  they  had  the  food  in  front  of  tliemselves,  and  they 
evidently  were  the  possessors  of  good  appetites,  to  jndge  by  tlie  eagerness 
with  which  they  attended  to  business  and  paid  no  heed  to  the  strangers. 

The  Japanese  are  excellent  sailors,  both  on  their  junks  and  on  the 
foreign  ships  that  have  been  introduced  to  their  service  since  the  opening 
of  the  country  to  other  nations.  But  the  Japanese  landsman  has  a  horror 
of  the  water,  and  cannot  be  induced  to  venture  upon  it.  In  this  respect 
the  Japanese  are  not  unlike  the  Italians,  who  are  naturally  a  maritime 
nation,  and  have  covered  themselves  with  marine  glory  in  times  that  are 
past.  But  the  Italian  landsman  is  ready  to  suffer  any  inconvenience  rather 
than  risk  himself  on  the  ocean,  and  not  a  more  woe-begone  being  can  be 
found  in  the  world  than  a  sea-sick  Italian  unless  it  be  a  sea-sick  Japanese. 
The  sailors  on  the  junk  were  very  pi'ompt  in  obeying  orders,  but 
they  went  about  everything  with  an  air  of  coolness  which  one  does 
not  always  see  on  an  Ameiican  vessel.     Ordinarily  they  pulled  at  ropes 

as  though  they  would 

%^j^  not    hurt     either    the 

~'    ^'' '"  ^    "  "  ropes    or    themselves; 

but  it  was  observed 
that  when  the  captain 
gave  an  order  for  'Any- 
thing,^  there  was  no  at- 
tempt at  shirking.  One 
of  the  sailors  stood  at 
the  sheet  of  the  main- 
sail, and  while  he  held 
on  and  waited  for  di- 
rections his  mate  M'as 
quietly  smoking  and 
seated  on  the  deck. 
When  the  order  came 
for  changing  the  posi- 
tion of  the  sail,  the  pipe 
was  instantly  dropped 
and  the  work  was  at- 
tended to ;  when  the 
work  was  over,  the  pipe 
was  resumed  as  if  noth- 
jDNK  SAILORS  ON  DUTT.  lug  had  happcued.  Evi- 


UP   THE   RIVER   TO   OSAKA.  275 

dently  the  sailors  were  not  much  affected  by  tlie  fashions  that  the  for- 
eifirners  had  introduced,  for  they  were  all  dressed  in  the  costume  that 
prevailed  previous  to  the  treaty  of  Commodore  Perry^  and  before  a 
single  innovation  had  been  made  in  the  way  of  navigation.  The  cap- 
tain of  the  junk  looked  with  disdain  upon  a  steamer  that  wa&  at  anchor 
not  far  from  where  bis  craft  was  obliged  to  pass,  and  evidently  hfr  had  no- 
very  high  opinion  of  the  barbarian  invention.  He  was  content  with 
things  as  they  were,  and  the  ship  that  had  borne  his  ancestors  ia  safety 
was  quite  good  enough  for  him  and  his  comrades. 

About. six  hours-  after  the  departure  from  Kobe^the  junk  reached  the 
bar  of  the  river  on  which  Osaka  is  situated.  The  bar  was  passed,  and  then 
the  unwieldy  concern  came  to  anclior  to  wait  for  a  stronger  breeze ;  at 
the  advice  of  John  a  row-boat  was  engaged  to  finish  the  journey  as  far  as 
the  hotel  where  they  were  to  stop.  The  row-boat  was-  rapidly  propelled 
by  the  strong  arms  of  half  a  dozen  men  ;  and  in  les&  than  two  hours  from 
the  time  they  said  "  Sayonara"  to  the  captain  of  their  transport,  the  Doc- 
tor and  his  young  friends  were  safely  lodged  in  the  house  where  their 
rooms  had  been  previously  engaged  by  letter.  In  a  short  time  dirbner  was- 
ready,  and  they  had  it  served  on  a  little  balcony  which  overlooked  the 
water,  and  gave  thenx  an  opportunity  to  study  thfr  river  life  of  the  city 
while  they  devoured  the  stewed  chix?ken  and'  juicy  steaks  that  the  host 
had  provided  for  them.  Boats  passed  and  repassed,  and  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  animation  on  the  stream.  Just  beyond  the  hotel  there  was  a 
bridge  which  curved  like  a  quarter  of  a  circle,  as  Fred  thought,  and  be- 
yond it  was  another  of  similar  construction.  Crowds  of  people  were 
coming  and  going  over  these  bridges,  and  Fi-ank  ventured  to  ask  the  Doc- 
tor if  there  were  any  more  bridges  and  any  more  people  in  Osaka. 

"  Certainly,  my  boy,"  the  Doctor  answered,. "there  are  thirteen  rivers- 
and  canals  in  Osaka,  so  that  the  city  has  an  abundance  of  water  communi- 
cation. The  streets  are  generally  at  right  angles,  and  there  are  more  thaa 
a  hundred  bridges  over  the  water-ways.  From  this  circumstance  Osaka 
has  received  the  name  of  the  Venice  of  Japan,  and  she  certainly  deserves 
it.  Formerly  her  commerce  by  water  was  very  great,  and  you  would  see 
a  large  fleet  of  junks  in  the  river  below  the  town.  The  opening  of  the 
railway  to  Kobe  has  somewhat  diminished  the  traffic  by  water;  but  it  is 
still  quite  extensive,  and  employs  a  goodly  amount  of  capital. 

"  Osaka  is  oile  of  the  most  important  cities  of  Japan,"  Dr.  Bronson 
continued,  "  and  has  long  been  celebrated  for  its  eommercial  gi'eatness. 
If  you  look  at  its  position  on  the  map,  you  will  see  that  iit  i*  admirably 
situated  to  command  trade  both  by  land  and  by  water ;  and  whea  I  tell 


276 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


■ 

1 

^^^^^^^^^^E^ 

W' 

A   WALK    THHOUGH   THE   CITY.  277 

YOU  that  it  contains  half  a  million  of  inhabitants,  you  will  understand  that 
it  must  have  had  prosperity  to  make  it  so  great.  The  streets  are  of  good 
width,  and  they  are  kept  cleaner  than  those  of  most  other  cities  in  Japan. 
The  people  are  very  proud  of  Osaka,  and  are  as  tender  of  its  reputation 
as  the  inhabitants  of  any  Western  city  in  America  are  tender  of  theirs. 
There  are  not  so  many  temples  as  in  Tokio,  and  not  so  many  palaces,  but 
there  is  a  fair  number  of  both ;  and,  what  is  better  in  a  practical  way, 
there  are  many  establishments  where  cotton,  iron,  copper,  bronze,  and  other 
goods  are  manufactured.  As  a  commercial  and  manufacturing  centre, 
Osaka  is  at  the  head,  and  without  a  rival  so  far  as  Japan  is  concerned." 

Towards  sunset  the  party  took  a  stroll  through  the  city,  stopping  in 
front  of  several  shops,  and  entering  one  or  two  of  the  larger.  The  boys 
were  of  opinion  that  the  shops  of  Osaka  were  larger  than  those  of  Tokio, 
and  there  was  one  silk-store  that  was  twice  the  size  of  any  they  had  seen 
in  the  eastern  capital.  The  goods  that  were  displayed  were  not  mate- 
rially different  from  what  they  had  already  seen,  and  consequently  they 
were  not  disposed  to  linger  long  on  the  way.  They  extended  their  walk 
to  the  upper  part  of  the  city,  where  several  temples  are  situated,  and  they 
finally  reached  the  famous  Castle  of  Osaka,  whence  there  is  a  fine  view 
from  the  walls.  There  was  some  difficulty  in  entering  the  castle,  but 
through  the  explanations  of  John  the  matter  was  arranged  and  they  went 
inside. 

One  of  the  wonders  of  Japan  is  the  wall  of  the  Castle  of  Osaka,  or 


THE    CASTLE    OF    OSAKA. 


278  'A'HE  BOY  TRAVELLEUS. 

ratlier  of  a  portion  of  it.  During  the  sixteenth  century  Osaka  was  the  capi- 
tal of  the  empire,  and  remained  so  for  many  years ;  while  it  was  the  capi- 
tal the  emperor  commanded. the  tributary  princes  to  assist  in  building  the 
walls  of  the  imperial  residence,  and  each  was  to  send  a  stone  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  stones  are  there,  and  it  would  be  no  small  matter  to  remove 
them.  Our  friends  had  no  means  of  measurement  at  hand,  but  they  esti- 
mated that  some  of  the  stones  were  twenty  feet  long  by  half  that  width, 
and  six  feet  in  deptli.  They  were  as  large  as  an  ordinary  street-car,  and 
some  of  them  were  larger ;  and  how  they  could  have  been  transported  over 
the  roads  of  Japan  and  Iwisted  into  their  places  was  a  mystery  no  one 
could  explain. 

The  view  from  the  top  of  the  castle  walls  is  magnificent,  and  well  re- 
pays the  trouble  of  making  the  ascent.  In  front  is  the  city  like  a  broad 
map,  and  there  is  no  difficulty  in  tracing  the  lines  of  the  streets  and  the 
sinuosities  of  the  rivers  and  canals.  Beyond  the  city,  on  the  right,  is  the 
water  of  the  bay,  which  opens  into  the  Pacific,  while  on  the  left  is  the 
plain  that  stretches  away  to  Kobe  and  Hiogo.  Beyond  the  plain  is  the 
range  of  sharp  hills  and  mountains ;  and  as  one  turns  slowly  to  the  west 
and  north  he  can  sweep  the  landscape  almost  to  the  gates  of  Kioto  and 
the  shores  of  Lake  Biwa.  To  the  east,  again,  there  are  mountains  rising 
sharply  from  the  fertile  plain,  so  that  one  seems  to  be  standing  in  a  basin 
of  low  land  with  a  curving  rim  of  mountains.  The  sun  w^as  about  setting 
as  our  party  reached  the  top  of  the  high  wall,  and  they  remained  there  in 
full  enjoyment  of  the  scene  until  the  shadows  began  to  fall  and  the  light 
to  fade  out  from  the  sky.  It  was  the  most  delightful  landscape  view  that 
had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  youths  since  their  ascent  of  Fusiyama. 

They  regretted  the  necessity  of  departing  from  the  castle,  but  regrets 
were  of  no  use,  and  they  descended  to  the  streets  just  as  the  lamps  were 
getting  into  full  blaze. 


IN  A  JAPANESE  MINT.  279 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   MINT  AT  OSAKA.— FROM   OSAKA   TO  NARA   AND   KIOTO. 

THROUGH  the  assistance  of  a  gentleman  to  whom  Doctor  Bronson 
had  a  letter  of  introduction,  our  friends  were  enabkd  to  pay  a  visit 
to  the  imperial  mint  at  Osaka. 

They  found  a  large  estiiblishment,  like  a  foundry,  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  and  just  outside  the  thickly  settled  portion  of  the  city.  A  tall 
chimney  was  smoking  vigorously,  and  gave  signs  of  activity ;  and  there 
was  an  air  of  neatness  about  the  surroundings  quite  in  keeping  M-ith  what 
they  had  observed  thus  far  in  their  journey  through  Japan.  They  were 
met  at  the  entrance  by  the  director  of  the  mint,  a  Japanese  gentleman 
who  had  spent  a  considerable  time  in  Europe  and  Ameri<,*a,  and  spoke 
English  with  fluency  and  precision.  They  were  invited  to  seats  in  the 
oftice,  and,  after  a  brief  delay,  were  escorted  through  the  establishment. 

The  mint  at  Osaka  is  one  of  the  most  noted  enterprises  which  the  gov- 
ernment of  Japan  has  undertaken,  and  likewise  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful. When  it  was  founded  it  was  under  foreign  supervision,  and  the 
most  of  the  employes  were  from  Europe ;  but  year  b}'^  year  the  Japanese 
have  learned  how  to  conduct  its  machinery,  and  have  relieved  the  foreign- 
ers of  the  labor  of  managing  it.  The  direction  is  Japanese,  and  so  are 
the  heads  of  the  departments,  and  the  employes  from  highest  to  lowest. 
When  the  mint  was  established,  the  machinery  for  it  was  imported  from 
Europe,  but  at  present  it  is  all  made  by  tlie  Japanese,  in  their  own  factory 
attached  to  the  mint. 

"Just  to  think,"  said  Frank,  "that  people  persist  in  calling  these 
Japanese  '  barbarians !'  Here  are  machines  for  stamping  coin  and  per- 
forming all  the  work  of  a  mint,  and  it  bears  the  mark  of  the  Japanese. 
Here  are  delicate  balances  for  weighing  gold  and  silver  and  getting  the 
weight  down  to  the  fraction  of  a  grain,  and  they  are  just  as  sensitive  and 
as  well  made  as  the  best  specimens  from  the  French  or  German  makers. 
If  the  Japanese  can  do  all  this,  and  thej  certainly  have  done  it,  they  de- 
serve to  be  considered  just  as  good, as  any  other  people  in  the  worl*d." 


280 


THE  BOY  TUAVELLEKS. 


The  Doctor  took  from  liis  pocket  some  of  the  coin  which  was  in  circu- 
lation, and  with  which  the  boys  had  by  this  time  become  thoroughly 
familiar.  They  had  remarked  that  it  was  as  neatly  made  as  any  coin  of 
Europe  or  America,  and,  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  they  were  desirous  of 
seeing  the  machine  by  which  each  of  the  different  pieces  was  stamped. 

The  director  kindly  point- 
ed out  the  various  ma- 
chines, and  the  boys  ob- 
served that,  with  a  single 
exception,  they  were  all  of 
Japanese  make.  Then  they 
were  shown  through  a  fac- 
tory for  the  manufacture 
of  sulphuric  acid  that  is 
attached  to  the  mint,  and 
is  run  on  government  ac- 
count. They  were  some- 
what astonished  to  learn 
that  all  the  sulphuric  acid 
used  in  the  mint  was  made 
there,  and  that  in  the  pre- 
vious year  thirteen  thou- 
sand eases  were  exported 
to  China.  For  the  benefit  of  his  professor  of  chemistry,  Fred  made  the 
following  memorandum  concerning  the  branch  of  business  he  was  inves- 
tigating : 

"  The  sulphur  comes  from  the  provinces  of  Satsuma  and  Bungo — the 
most  from  the  latter,  and  the  best  from  the  former;  and  the  product  is 
partly  for  the  use  of  the  mint,  and  partly  for  general  commerce.  The 
acid  is  packed  in  earthen  jars  which  are  glazed  on  the  inside,  and  not  in 
the  carboys  that  are  in  use  with  us.  Two  jars,  holding  about  eight  quarts 
each,  are  packed  in  a  wooden  case ;  they  rest  on  a  bed  of  lime  about  three 
inches  thick,  and  the  remainder  of  the  space  is  filled  with  coarse  ashes  and 
coal  cinders.  This  manner  of  packing  is  considered  preferable  to  the  old 
one,  and,  besides,  it  enables  the  Japanese  to  make  their  own  jars,  instead 
of  importing  the  carboys.  The  director  tells  me  that  thus  far  the  factory 
has  not  been  able  to  supply  the  Chinese  demand  for  acid,  and  therefore 
no  shipments  have  been  made  to  other  countries.  With  an  increased 
production,  it  is  quite  possible  that  shipments  may  be  made  to  America 
at  no  very  distant  day.  • 


VIGNETTE    FROM    THE    NATIONAL    BANK-NOTES. 


USE   OF  TRADE-DOLLARS   IN  JAPAN. 


281 


IMPERIAL    CREST    FOR    PALACE    AFFAIRS. 


"Japan  abounds  in  sul- 
phur, and  the  supply  is  said 
to  be  inexhaustible.  The 
copper  used  at  the  mint  for 
making  the  Japanese  small 
coins  is  of  native  produc- 
tion, and  so  is  most  of  the 
silver;  but  occasionally  the 
supply  of  the  latter  metal 
runs  short,  and  then  Amer- 
ican silver  comes  into  pla3\ 
Last  year  nearly  half  a  mill- 
ion trade-dollars  were  melt- 
ed at  the  mint  at  Osaka,  to 
be  made  into  Japanese  yens, 
and  this  year  a  large  nnm- 
ber  have  met  a  similar  fate. 
The  American  trade -dollar 

has  not  yet  become  a  popular  coin  for  circulation  in  Japan  and  China, 
but  is  in  good  demand  for  the  melting-pot.  But  I  suppose  we  do  not 
care  what  they  do  with  our  silver  money  so  long  as  they  pay  for  it ;  and 
the  more  they  melt  up,  the  better  we  shall  be  pleased." 

Having  finished  their  in- 
spection of  the  mint,  our 
friends  thanked  the  polite 
director  for  his  kindness 
and  attention,  and  bade  him 
good -day.  They  returned 
to  the  hotel,  where  their 
lunch  was  waiting  for  them, 
and  sat  down  on  the  bal- 
cony, where  they  had  feast- 
ed and  studied  the  river 
scenery  the  day  before. 
Their  morning's  excursion 
naturally  led  them  to  talk 
about  the  money  of  Japan, 
and  on  this  subject  the  Doc- 
tor was  ready  with  his  usual 
IMPERIAL  CREST  ON  THE  NEW  COINS.  f^j^^  of  iuformation. 


282 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


"  The  Japanese  currency,"  said  Doctor  Brouson,  "  has  had  a  somewhat 
checkered  career.     Previous  to  the  coming  of  the  foreigners,  the  currency 
consisted  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  bronze  coins.    The  Daimios  had  money 
of  their  own,  and  some  of  them  had  issued  paper  kinsats,  or  money-cards. 
These  were  on   thick  paper,  like  card-board,  and 
they  circulated  freely,  though  sometimes  at  a  dis- 
count, owing  to  the  difficulty  of  redemption  or  the 
wasteful  ways  of  the  prince  by  whom  they  were 
put  forth.      The  old  coins  were  oval  or  oblong, 
and  the  lower  denominations  had  a  square  hole  in 
the  centre,  so  that  they  could  be  strung  on  a  wire 
or  on  a  cord.     The  gold  coins  were  known  as 
'kobans,'  while  the   silver  ones  had  the  general 
name  of  'boos.'     There   were  fractions  of  each, 
and  they  had  their  names,  just  as  our  half  and 
quarter  dollars  have  their  distinctive  names.    The 
unit  of  the  silver  coin  was  a  'boo,'  and  it  was  al- 
ways called  'ichi-boo,'  or  one  boo.    The  word  ichi 
means  one^  but  the  early  visitors  supposed  it  was  a 
part  of  the  name  of  the  coin.     Thus  we  read  in 
books  of  twenty  years  ago  that  the  writer  paid 
'one  ichiboo'  or  'two  ichiboos'  for  certain  pur- 
chases.    It  is  the  same  as  if  some  one  writing  of 
America  should  say  that  he  paid  'one  one-dollar' 
or  'two  one-dollars'  for  what  lie  had  bought. 
"  All  that  old  currency  has  been  set  aside,"  continued  the  Doctor, 
"and  the  country  is  now  in  possession  of  a  deciirial  sj'stem  of  money. 
The  coins  are  round,  and  the  general  stamp  on  them  is  the  same,  apart 
from  the  words  and  figures  showing  the  denomination  and  value.     The 
unit  is  the  '  yen,'  which  is  equal  to  our  dollar.     In  fact,  the  Japanese  cur- 
rency is  assimilated  to  our  own  in  weight,  fineness,  and  decimal  divisions. 
Here  is  the  table  of  the  values : 


OLD  KIN8AT,  OR  MONET-CARD. 


10  rin  make  1  sen,  equal  to  1  cent. 
100  sen  make  1  yen,  equal  to  1  dollar. 


"  The  coins  are  stamped  with  the  devices  of  the  coil- 
ed dragons  and  the  rising  sun  (both  Japanese  symbols), 
and  not  with  the  portrait  of  the  Mikado.  Japanese 
prejudice  is  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  the  picture  of 
the  imperial  ruler  on  the  coin  of  the  country,  but  it  will 


JAPANESE  GREENBACKS. 


283 


VIGNETTE    FKOM    BANK-NOTE. 


probably  be  overcome  in  time.  It 
is  less  severe  than  with  the  Mos- 
lems (among  whom  a  true  believer 
is  forbidden  to  make  a  picture  of 
anything  that  has  life),  and  conse- 
quently will  be  more  easy  to  do 
away  with. 

"The  Japanese  have  ventured 
upon  that  feature  of  Western  civ- 
ilization known  as  a  national  debt, 
and  how  they  will  get  out  of  it  time 
alone  will  determine.  At  present 
they  are  increasing  their  indebted- 
ness every  year,  and  their  paper 
does  not  show  any  signs  of  redemp- 
tion. They  have  also,  as  you  have  seen,  a  paper  currency  like  our  na- 
tional issue  in  America,  and  so  much  like  ours  is  it  that  it  is  known 
as  the  Japanese  greenbacks.  They  have  notes  of  the  same  denomina- 
tions as  ours ;  and  they  also  have  a  fractional  currency,  such  as  we  had 
during  the  war  of  1861  and  the  years  that  followed.  The  premium  on 
coin  has  gone  steadily  upwards,  partly  in  consequence  of  the  large  issue, 
and  partly  owing  to  the  hostility  of  foreign  bankers  and  others,  who  have 

done  all  they  could  to  bring 
the  Japanese  credit  into  dis- 
credit." 

The  dissertation  on  Jap- 
anese money  came  to  an  end 
with  the  meal  they  were  eat- 
ing, and  soon  after  the  party 
proceeded  to  take  a  stroll 
through  the  streets.  The 
afternoon  was  spent  in  this 
way  and  in  letter -writing, 
and  on  the  following  morn- 
ing the  trio  started  for  Ki- 
oto, by  way  of  Nara.  The 
ride  was  a  pleasant  one — in 
jin-riki-shas  —  partly  along 
the  banks  of  the  river,  where 
they  saw  a  goodly  number  of 


VIGNETTE    FROM    BANK-NOTE. 


284 


THE    BOY    TRAVELLERS. 


boats,  some  descending  the  stream  with  the  aid  of  tlie  current,  and  others 
making  a  laborious  ascent.  Tlie  difference  of  up-stream  and  down-stream 
travel  was  never  better  illustrated  than  in  the  present  instance.  The  Japs 
who  floated  with  the  current  were  taking  things  easily  and  smoking  their 
pi})es,  as  though  all  the  M'orld  were  their  debtor;  while  the  men  on  the 
towpath  were  bending  to  their  toil,  evidentl}'  giving  their  whole  minds  to 
it,  and  their  bodies  as  well.  Some  of  the  towmen  had  on  their  grass 
coats,  while  othei-s  were  without  them.  Every  head  was  carefully  pro- 
tected from  the  heat  of  the  sun  by  the  broad  hats  already  described. 


MEN   TOWING    BOATS    NEAR   OSAKA. 


HODE    OF   HOLDING   THE   TOW-ROFE8. 


They  saw  a  native  ferry-boat  at  one  point,  which  was  heavily  laden 
with  a  mixed  cargo.  According  to  Fred's  inventory,  the  craft  contained  a 
horse  and  lialf  a  dozen  men,  together  with  a  lot  of  boxes  and  bundles, 
which  were,  as  the  auctioneers  say,  too  numerous  to  mention.  The  head 
of  the  horse  was  firmly  held  by  the  groom  who  had  him  in  charge,  as  it 


THE  MAID  OF  THE  INN. 


285 


THB    FEKKY-BOAT. 


would  have  been  a  serious  matter  if  the  beast  had  broken  away  and 
jumped  into  the  stream  with  all  his  load  about  him.  A  Japanese  ferry- 
boat does  not  appear  the  safest  thing  in  the  world,  but,  somehow,  one 
never  hears  of  accidents  with  it.  If  any  occur,  they  must  be  carefully 
kept  out  of  the  papers. 

After  riding  about  three  hours  through  a  succession  of  villages  and 
across  fields,  they  reached  a  hotel,  where  John  suggested  they  had  better 
halt  for  lunch.  It  was  a  Japanese  inn,  without  the  slightest  pretence 
of  adapting  itself  to  foreign  ideas.  There  were  the  usual  fish-stew  and 
boiled  rice  ready,  and  with  these  and  their  own  provisions  our  travellers 
made  a  hearty  meal,  well  seasoned  with 
that  best  of  sauces,  hunger.  There  was 
a  stout  maid -of -all -work,  who  bustled 
about  in  a  manner  not  altogether  char- 
acteristic of  the  Japanese.  At  the  sug- 
gestion from  the  Doctor  that  he  would 
like  to  bathe  his  head  in  some  cool 
M'ater,  she  hurried  away,  and  soon  re- 
turned, bearing  a  bucket  so  large  and  so 
full  that  she  was  forced  to  bend  her  body 
far  to  one  side  to  maintain  her  equilib- 
rium. Her  powerful  limbs  and  general 
ruddiness  of  feature  were  indicative  of 
the  very  best  condition  of  robust  health, 
and  the  boys  agreed  that  she  would  make 
a  most  excellent  model  for  an  artist  who 
was  endeavoring  to  represent  the  best 
types  of  the  Japanese  peasantry.  the  hotel-maid. 


286 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


Nara  is  about  thirty  miles  from  Osaka,  and  is  famous  for  some  ancient 
temples  and  fine  groves  of  trees.  The  park  containing  the.  latter  is  quite 
extensive,  and  supports  a  considerable  number  of  deer,  so  tame  that  they 
will  feed  from  the  hand  of  a  stranger.  As  they  are  the  stock  sights  of 
the  place,  there  are  plenty  of  opportunities  to  spend  a  few  pennies  for 
cakes  to  be  given  to  the  deer.  The  cakes  are  sold  by  some  old  women,  who 
call  the  pets  from  the  shelter  of  the  trees,  and  bring  them  bounding  to 
your  side.  The  trees  in  the  park  are  very  old,  and  among  the  finest  in 
Japan.  There  are  few  lovelier  spots  in  the  country  than  this;  and  as  our 
friends  reclined  on  the  veranda  of  the  little  hotel  to  which  John  had  led 
the  way,  and  looked  upon  the  smiling  valley  that  spread  before  them,  they 
pronounced  the  picture  one  of  the  prettiest  the}'  had  ever  seen. 


A   JAPANESE    LANDSCAPE. 


The  following  morning  they  devoted  to  the  sights  of  Nara,  and  were 
surprised  at  the  number  and  extent  of  the  temples  and  tombs.  During 
the  eighth  century  Nara  was  the  capital  of  Japan,  and  it  had  the  honor  of 
being  the  residence  of  seven  different  sovereigns.  The  most  famous  of  its 
monuments  is  the  statue  of  Buddha,  which  was  originally  cast  at  the  time 
Nara  was  the  capital,  and  was  afterwards  destroj'ed  during  an  insurrection. 
It  was  recast  about  seven  hundred  years  ago,  and  has  since  remained  unin- 


FROM   NARA  TO   KIOTO.  287 

jured.  Frank  applied  himself  to  discovering  the  dimensions  of  this 
statue,  and  ended  by  making  the  following  table  of  figures : 

Total  height  of  statue,  53  feet  6  inches ;  width  across  shoulders,  29 
feet ;  length  of  face,  16  feet ;  width  of  face,  9  feet  6  inches.  It  is  said  to 
weigh  four  hundred  and  fifty  tons,  and  to  be  made  of  a  bronze  composed 
of  gold,  mercury,  tin,  and  copper.  The  head  is  covered  with  curls,  also  of 
bronze,  and  there  are  said  to  be  966  of  them ;  then  there  is  a  halo  around 
the  head  78  feet  in  diameter,  and  supporting  16  images,  each  one  8  feet 
long.  The  statue  is  in  a  squatting  posture,  like  the  one  at  Kamakura,  and 
is  covered  with  a  building  so  small  that  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  a  good 
view  in  consequence  of  being  too  near  the  figure.  The  expression  of  the 
features  is  not  at  all  equal  to  that  of  the  great  Dai-Boots  at  Kamakura,  and 
the  whole  design  is  far  less  artistic.  But  it  is  the  second  in  the  empire  in 
size,  and  for  that  reason  is  worthy  of  notice  as  well  as  for  its  antiquity. 

From  IS^ara  the  party  continued  to  Kioto,  halting  for  dinner  at  Uji, 
which  is  the  centre  of  an  important  tea  district.  Men  and  women  were 
at  work  in  the  fields  gatliering  the  leaves  from  the  plants,  and  other  men 
and  women  were  attending  to  the  drjnng  process  which  the  gathered 
leaves  were  undergoing.  The}'  were  spread  out  on  matting,  on  paper,  or 
on  cloth,  where  they  had  the  full  force  of  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  were 
frequently  turned  and  stirred  so  as  to  have  every  part  equally  exposed  to 
the  solar  heat.  While  the  party  was  at  Uji  a  shower  came  on,  and  tlien 
there  was  some  very  lively  hurrying  to  and  fro  to  save  the  tea  from  a 
wetting.  During  the  afternoon  the  rain  continued,  and  the  rest  of  the 
ride  to  Kioto  was  not  especially  cheerful.  Part  of  the  route  led  along  the 
banks  of  the  river,  which  forms  a  navigable  way  for  small  boats  between 


DIKES    ALONG   THE   EIVEK. 


288 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


tlie  tea  district  and  Osaka  ;  and  at  one  place,  where  the  bank  was  broken, 
Frank  had  a  narrow  escape  from  an  overturn  into  the  water.  The  M'heel 
of  his  little  carriage  sank  into  the  soft  earth  and  spilled  him  out,  but, 
luckily,  a  friendly  tree  was  in  liis  grasp  and  saved  him  from  falling  down 
the  steep  slope  of  twenty  feet  or  so.  "  A  miss  is  as  good  as  a  mile,"  he 
remarked,  as  he  brushed  the  mud  from  his  clothes,  and  took  his  seat  again 
in  his  vehicle. 

"  And  I  know  a  miss,"  said  Fred,  "  that  is  better  than  any  mile  we 
have  had  to-day." 

Frank  asked  what  he  meant,  and  was  told — 

"  Miss  Effie." 


MUHT    SCENK    m;aK    FUSIIIMI. 


He  quite  agreed  with  Fred,  and  said  he  would  gladly  exchange  that 
last  mile,  overturn  and  all,  for  one  minute  of  her  society.  But  he  had  the 
consolation  of  knowing  he  could  have  her  society  for  a  good  many  con- 
secutive minutes  when  he  got  home  again,  and  could  keep  as  long  as  he 
liked  the  recollection  of  the  miles  between  Nara  and  Kioto. 

They  left  the  river  at  P'ushimi,  and  followed  what  seemed  to  be  an  al- 
most continuous  street  for  six  miles  or  more.  Formerly  the  great  route 
for  travellers  and  commerce  between  Osaka  and  Kioto  was  by  way  of  the 
river  as  far  as  Fushimi,  and  thence  by  the  road.  The  result  of  this  state 
of  affairs  for  centuries  was  to  build  up  a  long  village  largely  composed  of 
hotels  and  tea-houses.     Their  business  has  somewhat  fallen  off  since  the 


ARRIVAL   AT  THE   WESTERN   CAPITAL. 


289 


completion  of  the  raihva}'^  from  Kioto  to  Osaka  and  Kobe ;  but  there  is 
still  enough  to  maintain  a  considerable  number  of  them.  There  is  one 
large  hotel,  at  the  foot  of  the  Inari  hill,  about  two  miles  from  the  centre 
of  Kioto,  where  the  jin-riki-sha  coolies  invariably  stop  for  a  short  rest,  and 
to  take  tea  at  the  expense  of  their  employers.  The  custom  was  carefully 
observed  in  the  present  instance,  and  our  friends  were  shown  to  the  rear 
of  the  hotel,  where  there  was  a  pretty  garden  with  a  little  fountain  sup- 
plied from  the  hill  above.  They  sipped  their  tea,  and  gave  side-glances 
at  the  black-eyed  maids  that  were  moving  around  the  house ;  and  when 
John  announced  that  the  coolies  were  rested,  the  journey  was  resumed. 

They  passed  by  several  temples,  and,  after  a  time,  their  way  led  through 
some  narrow  streets  and  up  a  gently  sloping  hill.  Suddenly  they  halted 
and  were  told  that  they  had  reached  their  stopping-place.  There  are  sev- 
eral hotels  at  Kioto  in  the  foreign  style,  but  all  kept  and  managed  by  Jap- 
anese. John  declared  that  the  one  to  which  he  had  brought  them  w^as 
the  best,  but  he  added,  in  a  quiet  whisper,  that  it  was  not  so  good  as  the 
hotels  at  Kobe  and  Yokohama.  After  a  day's  experience  of  the  establish- 
ment, Frank  suggested  that  he  could  make  an  improvement  in  John's 
English. 

Fred  asked  what  he  had  to  propose. 

"  Why,"  said  Frank,  "  he  spoke  of  this  hotel  as  the  best  in  the  place ; 
best  implies  goodness  somewhere,  and  I  don't  find  any  goodness  in  it." 

"  But,  for  all  that," 
Fred  responded,  "  the 
others  may  be  worse 
than  this." 

"  Quite  true,"  was 
the  answer,  "  and  then 
let  him  say  so.  In- 
stead of  calling  this  the 
best  hotel  in  Kioto,  he 
should  say  that  it  is  tlie 
least  bad.  Then  he 
would  be  making  a 
proper  use  of  lan- 
guage." 

Fred  retorted  that 
Frank  was  demanding 
too   much  of  a  boy  to 

wliora   they   only   paid  women  of  kioto. 

19 


290  THE   BOY   TRAVELLEKS. 

fifty  cents  a  day,  and  liis  expenses,  and  said  lie  was  reminded  of  the  ex- 
cuse of  a  soldier  who  was  being  censured  for  drunkenness. 

"  What  was  that  ?"  queried  Frank. 

"  His  captain  asked  him  what  he  had  to  say  for  himself  to  escape  pun- 
ishment, and  the  man  replied  that  it  was  unreasonable  to  expect  all  the 
cardinal  virtues  for  thirteen  dollare  a  month.  The  captain  told  him  the 
excuse  was  sufficient  for  that  time,  but  would  not  do  for  a  repetition  of 
the  offence." 

They  had  not  been  five  minutes  in  the  hotel  before  they  were  visited 
by  a  delegation  of  peddlers,  who  had  all  sorts  of  wares  to  offer.  Among 
them  were  some  beautiful  embroideries  on  silk,  of  a  kind  they  had  not 
seen  in  Tokio  or  Yokohama,  and  there  were  some  exquisite  paintings  that 
gave  practical  evidence  of  the  superiority  of  the  artists  of  Kioto.  The 
dealere  were  not  at  all  importunate,  and  did  not  seem  to  care  whether  the 
strangere  purchased  their  wares  or  declined  all  negotiations.  Two  or 
three  of  them  had  brought  photographs  of  the  scenery  around  Kioto 
which  they  offered  to  leave  for  inspection  until  the  next  day.  This  pro- 
posal was  received  with  favor,  and  on  a  hint  that  the  travellers  were  tired 
and  wished  to  be  by  themselves,  each  of  the  itinerant  merchants  retired, 
but  not  till  after  bowing  low  and  pronouncing  a  respectful  "  Sayonara." 

Two  of  the  hotels  which  the  foreigners  patronize  are  close  to  some  of 
the  famous  temples  of  Kioto,  and  thus  the  process  of  sight-seeing  is  great- 
ly facilitated.  A  third  hotel  is  a  considerable  distance  up  the  hill-side, 
and  commands  a  fine  view  over  nearly  all  the  city.  The  ascent  to  it  is 
somewhat  fatiguing,  but  the  visitor  is  well  paid  for  the  exertion  by  the 
remarkable  and  charming  landscape  that  spreads  before  his  eyes. 


A   CITY   OF  MANY   NAMES.  291 


CHAPTER  XXL 

KIOTO   AND   LAKK   BIWA. 

TO  tell  all  that  was  done  and  seen  bj  our  young  friends  during  their  stay 
in  Kioto  would  be  to  tell  a  great  deal.  They  had  their  time  fully  oc- 
cupied from  their  arrival  to  their  departure,  and  they  regretted  much  the 
necessity  of  leaving  when  they  did.  At  the  Doctor's  suggestion,  they  at- 
tempted a  new  system  of  relating  their  adventures  to  their  friends  at 
home,  and  were  so  well  pleased  at  the  resu-lt  that  they  determined  to  try 
it  again.  The  new  scheme  was.  the  preparation  of  a  letter  in  which  both 
had  equal  shares,  Frank  undertaking  to  write  one  half  of  it  and  Fred  the 
other.  They  succeeded  so  well  that  when  they  read  over  their  production 
to  Doctor  Bronson  before  sending  it  away,  he  was  unable  to  say  which 
was  Fred's  portion  and  which  was  Frank's.  We  will  reproduce  the  letter 
and  leave  our  readers  to  judge  how  well  they  performed  their  self-imposed 
dutj.  At  the  Doctor's  suggestion,  each  of  the  boys  wrote  as  though 
speaking  for  himself,  and  consequently  the  letter  had  a  good  deal  of  "  I  " 
in  it. 

"  My  Dear  Friends  : 

"  We  have  seen  so  many  things  since  we  came  here  that  I  don't  exact- 
ly know  where  to  begin  in  telling  the  story  of  our  sight-seeing.  The 
names  by  which  this  city  is  known  are  so  numerous  that  the  reader  of 
Japanese  history  of  different  dates  is  liable  to  be  puzzled.  Many  of  the 
natives  speak  of  it  as  Miako,  or  the  Capital ;  others  have  called  it,  and  still 
call  it,  Saikio,  or  the  Central  City,  and  others  know  it  only  as  Kioto,  or 
the  Western  Capital,  This  last  name  has  become  the  official  one  since  the 
removal  of  the  Mikado  to  Yeddo,  which  then  became  Tokio,  or  the  East- 
ern Capital.  But,  by  whatever  name  we  know  it,  the  city  is  a  most  de- 
lightful one,  and  the  traveller  who  comes  to  Japan  without  seeing  it  is 
like  one  who  goes  to  New  York  without  visiting  Central  Park,  or  a 
stranger  in  Boston  who  does  not  see  the  famous  Common,  In  many  of 
its  features  Kioto  is  superior  to  Tokio,  and  any  one  of  its  inhabitants  will 


292 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


tell  you  so.  The  city  stands  on  a  plain  of  nearly  horseshoe  shape,  the 
mountains  almost  encircling  it  and  giving  an  abundance  of  charming 
views.  On  one  side  the  houses  climb  a  considerable  distance  up  the 
slopes,  so  that  you  may  sit  on  a  balcony  and  see  Kioto  Ij'ing  at  your 
feet. 

"The  streets  are  almost  of  chess-board  regularity," and  generally  so 
clean  that  you  might  go  out  to  walk  in  satin  slippers  without  much  dan- 
ger of  soilhig  them.  The  people  are  finer-looking  than  those  of  Tokio, 
and  you  meet  more  stalwart  men  than  in  the  eastern  capital.  Kioto 
prides  itself  on  the  beauty  of  its  women,  and  some  of  the  Japanese  writers 


LADIES    OF    THK    WESTERN    CAPITAL. 


say  that  they  cause  the  women  of  all  other  parts  of  the  country  to  de- 
spair. They  are  very  proud  of  their  head-dresses,  and  they  have  a  great 
many  ornaments  for  the  hair;  in  fact, there  are  so  many  of  these  things, 
and  the  trade  is  so  extensive,  that  you  find  whole  shops  devoted  to  their 
manufacture  and  sale. 

"  Dancing  and  singing  girls  are  to  be  counted  by  the  thousand,  and 
they  certainly  have  the  njost  gorgeous  toilets  I  have  seen  in  the  country. 
They  are  engaged  to  sing  and  dance  at  dinner  parties,  just  as  we  have  bands 


DANCING  AND  SINGING  GIRLS.  293 

of  music  to  play  for  ns  at  large  banquets  in  America,  and  no  Japanese 
gentleman  who  was  giving  a  dinner  to  a  friend  or  friends  would  think  he 
had  done  the  proper  thing  unless  there  were  '  geishas '  to  sing  and  dance 
for  them.  The  other  evening:  Doctor  Bronson  ordered  a  dinner  for  us  at 
a  Japanese  restaurant  in  the  true  style  of  the  country ;  he  told  the  mana- 
ger to  get  it  up  properly,  and  the  answer  was  that  it  should  be  perfect, 
"When  we  went  there,  we  found  the  dinner  ready ;  and  there  were  two  sing- 
ing geishas,  and  two  dancing  ones,  to  entertain  us.  I  can't  say  that  I  con- 
sidered it  much  of  an  entertainment  after  the  novelty  had  gone,  as  the 
music  was  monotonous,  and  we  couldn't  understand  a  word  of  the  singing. 
Their  dancing  consisted  of  sliding  about  the  room,  and  taking  a  variety  of 
postures  with  their  arms  and  hands,  and  it  wasn't  a  bit  like  what  we  call 
dancing.  But  it  was  all  perfectly  proper  and  nice,  and  the  girls  behaved 
like  real  ladies.  They  are  educated  for  dancers  or  singers,  as  the  case  may 
be,  and  some  of  them  are  great  favorites  and  get  high  wages.  But  if  I 
were  to  have  my  way,  and  have  them  dress  to  my  taste,  I  should  make 
them  put  less  paint  on  their  faces ;  they  consider  that  the  one  who  can 
put  the  most  paint  on  her  face  and  neck  is  the  prettiest,  and  so  they  cover 
themselves  till  they  look  as  though  they  were  veneered.  One  of  those 
that  danced  for  us  had  her  face  covered  so  thickly  that  she  couldn't  smile 
without  cracking  the  varnish,  and  so  she  didn't  smile  at  all. 

"  We  are  .outside  of  treaty  limits,  and  so  we  were  obliged  to  have  pass- 
ports to  come  here.  Foreigners  may  go  freely  within  twenty-five  miles 
of  any  of  the  treaty  ports  without  special  permission,  but  Kioto  is  just  be- 
yond the  limit,  as  it  is  thirty  miles  from  Osaka,  and  therefore  the  Japanese 
permit  is  needed.  AYe  had  ours  from  the  consul  at  Kobe,  and  had  no 
trouble  at  all  on  coming  here.  A  Japanese  official  called  for  them  soon 
after  we  came  to  the  hotel,  and  he  bowed  low  as  he  received  them.  Then 
he  spread  the  documents  on  the  floor,  and  as  he  did  so  he  fell  on  his  hands 
and  knees  so  as  to  bring  his  nose  within  six  inches  of  the  papers,  and 
curve  his  back  into  the  shape  of  an  arch.  He  read  the  passports  and 
copied  our  names  into  his  note-book ;  or,  at  least,  I  suppose  he  did  so, 
though  I  can't  say  positively.  We  can  stay  the  time  named  in  the  permit 
without  further  interference;  but  if  we  stopped  too  long,  we  should  prob- 
ably be  told  some  morning  that  a  gentleman  at  Kobe  was  anxious  to  see 
us,  and  we  had  better  start  for  there  by  the  first  train.  The  Japanese  arc 
so  polite  that  they  will  never  say  a  rude  thing  if  they  can  help  it,  and  they 
will  even  tell  a  plump  falsehood  rather  than  be  uncivil.  But  the  same 
tiling  has  occurred  in  America,  and  so  the  Japs  are  not  much  worse  than 
others,  after  all. 


294 


TII1<:   BOY   TUAVELLERS. 


now   TO   MAKE   ANTIQUE   BRONZES. 


295 


AN    AKTIST    AT    WUKK. 


"  Kioto   is  famous  in  the  rest  of  the 

world  for  its  manufactures  of  porcelain  of 

various  kinds,  and  also  for  its  bronzes  and 

silk  goods.    There  is  a  large  trade  in  Kioto 

ware,  and  everybod}'  says  that  is  is  increas- 
ing.    At  any  rate,  the  prices  they  ask  here 

are  as  high  as  in  Yokohama  for  the  same 

kind  of  articles,  and  some  things  are  really 

dearer  here  than  there.    Some  of  the  work 

in  bronze  is  very  fine,  and  I  can  tell  you  a 

funny  story  about  the  way  the  merchants 

prepare  goods  for  the  market.    The  incident 

happened  yesterday,  when  we  were  in  a  shop  with  a  gentleman  from  Kobe 

M'hom  we  had  met  at  the  hotel. 

"  This  gentleman  was  admiring  a  pair  of  very  old  vases  ;  there  was  no 

doubt  about  their  age,  as  they  were  eaten  in  several  places  with  verdigris, 

and  were  covered  in  spots  with  dried  earth.    When  he  asked  the  price,  he 

was  astonished  at  the  low  figure  demanded,  and  immediately  said  he  would 

take  them.     Then  he  asked  the  shopkeeper  if  he  had  any  more  like  them. 

"  '  I  haven't  any,'  the 
dealer  replied, '  but  I  can 
make  anything  3'ou  want 
to  order.' 

"  The  gentleman  said 
he  didn't  want  new  vases, 
but  old  ones,  and  there- 
upon the  dealer  said, 

" '  I'll  make  old  vases 
for  you  if  you  want 
them  —  will  make  them 
just  as  I  made  these.' 

"We  learned  how  it 
is  that  they  get  up  this 
old  ware ;  at  least,  we 
were  told  so  by  a  man 
who    claims    to    know. 

'  Boil  the  bronzes  in  strong  vinegar,'  he  says, '  for  several  hours ;  and  if  you 

want  to  make  them  look  very  old,  you  must  put  some  acid  in  the  vinegar. 

You  want  the  strongest  vinegar  that  can  be  found,  and  the  bronze  must 

be  cleaned  of  all  grease  before  it  is  boiled. 


LANTERN-MAKER    AT    KIOTO. 


296  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

" '  You  can  buy  plenty  of  old  ware  of  all  kinds,'  the  same  man  said, 
*  but  you  had  better  have  it  made,  and  then  you  know  you  are  not  cheated.' 
Very  sensible  advice,  I  think — tlonit  you  ? 

"  They  have  a  great  deal  of  embroidered  and  figured  silk ;  and  when 
you  go  into  a  shop,  these  are  the  first  things  they  show  you.  Some  of 
the  work  is  magnificent ;  and  when  you  look  at  it  and  learn  the  price,  it 
does  not  take  you  long  to  conclude  that  the  labor  of  Kioto  is  not  very 
highly  paid.  There  are  many  silk-weavers  here,  and  we  have  visited  some 
of  the  factories.  The  largest  that  we  saw  contained  twenty  looms,  about 
half  of  them  devoted  to  brocades  and  other  figured  work,  and  the  rest  to 
plain  silks.  The  looms  for  ordinary  work  are  quite  plain  and  simple ; 
those  for  the  figured  silks  are  somewhat  complicated,  and  require  two  per- 
sons to  operate  them.  One  sits  in  the  usual  position  in  front  of  the  loom, 
and  the  other  up  aloft ;  each  of  them  has  a  pattern  of  the  work,  and  there 
is  a  bewildering  lot  of  threads  which  must  be  pulled  at  the  right  time. 
The  process  is  very  slow ;  and  if  these  weavers  could  see  a  Jaequard  loom, 
I  think  they  would  be  astonished. 

"  Kioto  is  a  place  of  great  interest,  as  has  been  said  already ;  and  we 
have  not  been  able  to  exhaust  its  sights,  though  we  have  worked  very 
diligently.  It  is  the  most  famous  city  in  all  Japan  for  its  temples,  as  it 
contains  altogether  about  three  thousand  of  them.  They  are  of  all  sizes 
and  kinds,  but  the  most  of  them  are  small  and  not  worth  the  trouble  of 
visiting.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  magnificent  ones,  and  a 
charming  feature  of  the  temples  is  the  way  they  are  situated.  They  are 
nearly  all  on  hill-sides,  and  in  the  midst  of  groves  and  gardens  where  you 
may  wander  for  hours  in  the  shade ;  and  whenever  you  feel  weary  you 
can  be  sure  of  finding  a  tea-honse  close  by,  where  you  may  rest  and  refresh 
yourself  on  the  fragrant  tea  of  Japan.  Children  romp  and  play  on  the 
verandas  of  the  temples  without  thought  of  harm,  and  run  as  they  please 
through  the  edifices.  Outside  are  the  tea-gardens  ;  and  the  peojjle  chatter 
and  laugh  as  they  move  to  and  from  the  temple,  without  any  of  the  so- 
lemnity of  a  congregation  entering  or  leaving  a  church  in  America.  At 
the  hour  of  worship,  the  crowd  kneels  reverently,  and  pronounces  in 
unison  the  prayers  that  are  repeated  by  the  priest ,  and  when  the  prayers 
are  ended,  they  return  to  their  sport  or  their  work  as  gayly  as  ever. 

"  I  must  not  fail  to  tell  you  of  a  remarkable  temple  that  we  have  seen  ; 
not  that  any  are  unworthy  of  mention,  but  this  one  is  certainly  very 
curious.  It  is  known  as  the  Temple  of  Rengenhoin,  and  contains  one 
thousand  j^ols  of  large  size;  then  each  idol  in  this  lot  is  surrounded  by 
several  smaller  ones,  and  there  is  one  idol  larger  than  all  the  rest.     The 


WONDERFUL   MARKSMEN. 


297 


whole  number  is  said  to  be  33,333.  "W^e  did  not  count  them  to  make  sure 
that  the  estimate  was  correct,  but  I  should  think  that  there  must  be  thirty 
thousand  at  least,  so  that  a  few  odd  thousands,  more  or  less,  would  make  no 
difference.  The  whole  of  the  inside  of  the  temple  is  full  of  them,  and  each 
iio:ure  is  said  to  have  a 
particular  fable  connect- 
ed with  it.  The  temple 
is  nearly  four  hundred 
feet  long,  and  is  certain- 
ly a  very  fine  building ; 
and  there  is  an  artificial 
pond  in  front  of  it, 
which  is  covered  with 
aquatic  flowers  in  the 
season  for  them.  There 
is  a  veranda  that  was 
used  in  olden  times  for 
a  shooting-gallery  for 
archery  purposes ;  it  is 
more  than  two  hundred 
feet  long,  and  there  are 
records  of  some  famous 
matches  that  have  been 
shot  there.  The  best 
on  the  books  took  place 
more  than  six  hundred 
years  ago,  when  one 
man  is  said  to  have  hit 
the  bull's-eye  of  the  tar- 
get 8,000  times  out  of  10,000,  and  another  is  reported  to  have  done  the  same 
thing  8,133  times  in  13,053.  That  was  certainly  good  shooting,  and  I 
don't  believe  that  it  would  be  easy  to  find  a  bowman  to-day  who  could 
equal  it. 

"  We  have  seen  one  of  the  famous  bells  of  Japan,  or  rather  of  Kioto, 
for  it  is  this  city  that  has  always  been  celebrated  for  its  bells.  The 
greatest  of  them  lies  on  the  ground  just  outside  of  one  of  the  temples, 
and  it  is  not  a  piece  of  property  that  a  man  could  put  in  his  pocket  and 
walk  off  with.  It  is  fourteen  feet  high,  twenty-four  feet  in  circumference, 
and  ten  inches  thick.  How  much  it  weighs  nobody  knows,  as  the  Japan- 
ese never  made  a  pair  of  scales  large  enough  to  weigh  it  with.     The  Jap- 


A    JAPANESE    ARCHER. 


298 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


aiiese  bells  have  generally  a  very  sweet 
tone,  and  to  hear  them  booming  out 
on  the  evening  air  is  not  by  any  means 
disagreeable.  The  art  of  casting  them 
was  carried  to  a  state  of  great  perfec- 
tion, and  stood  higher,  two  or  three 
centuries  ago  than  it  does  at  present. 

"  If  I  should  name  half  the  temples 
and  public  places  we  have  seen  I  should 
make  you  wish,  perhaps,  that  I  had  not 
written  at  all,  as  the  list  alone  would  be 
tedious,  and  I  could  no  more  give  you 
an  idea  of  the  peculiar  beauty  and  at- 
tractions of  each  than  I  could  describe 
the  perfume  of  each  flower  in  a  bou- 
quet from  the  hands  of  the  florist.  One 
temple  had  a  large  cemetery  attached  to 
it,  and  we  walked  around  looking  at  the 
inscriptions  in  a  language  which  we 
could  not  read,  and  studying  symbols 
we  could  not  understand.  Tlie  tem- 
ple stands  in  a  grove,  as  do  nearly  all  the  temples  of  Kioto,  and  the  place 
reminded  us  very  much  of  some  of  our  burial-places  at  home. 

"  Then  we  have  had  glimpses  of  the  way  the  people  spin  cotton,  and 
perform  other  work  in  the  manufacturing  line.     Their  apparatus  is  very 


ISKI.L    AT    KIOTO. 


nEEMN'O   COTIi'N. 


BURIAL-PLACE  AT  KIOTO. 


299 


300  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

simple,  and  it  is  rather  surprising  tlian  otherwise  that  they  can  accomplish 
so  much  with  so  little  machinery.  Then  we  have  walked  about  the  streets, 
and  several  times  we  have  had  close  escapes  from  being  run  over  by  some 
of  the  carts  that  were  carrying  heavy  loads.  AV^ith  two  men  to  push  them, 
and  two  pulling  at  the  same  time,  they  will  move  loads  that  would  be  no 
small  matter  for  a  pair  of  horses.  They  keep  up  a  great  shouting,  and  at 
first  it  puzzles  you  to  know  why  they  do  it  until  you  remember  that  it  is 
desirable  they  should  all  pull  together.  You  can  hear  them  a  long  way 
ofiF,  and  if  you  get  in  their  way  it  is  your  own  fault,  as  it  was  ours. 


HANDCART    FOR    A    QUARTETTE. 

"Well,  if  we  kept  on  telling  you  all  we  have  seen  in  Kioto  we  should 
be  a  long  time  at  it,  and  so  we  may  as  well  stop  short.  Besides,  we  are 
going  to  Lake  Biwa,  and  it  is  time  to  be  off.  If  3'ou  enjoy  this  letter  half 
as  much  as  we  have  enjoyed  the  material  for  making  it  you  will  have  a 
very  pleasant  time  over  it." 
/' 

The  party  went  to  Lake  Biwa  as  they  had  proposed,  and  certainly  no 
one  should  omit  it  from  his  excursions  in  the  vicinity  of  Kioto.  The 
distance  is  only  seven  miles,  and  an  excellent  road  leads  there  from  the 
city.  Along  the  route  they  met  a  dense  crowd  of  people  coming  and 
going,  for  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  business  between  the  city  and  the 
lake.  There  were  men  on  foot  and  in  jin-riki-shas,  there  were  porters 
with  loads  and  porters  without  loads,  there  were  pack-horses  in  great 
number,  and  there  were  wagons  with  merchandise  bound"  for  the  interior 
or  for  the  seaboard.  Some  of  the  pack-horses  had  burdens  the  reverse  of 
savory,  and  the  boys  learned  on  inquiry  that  they  were  transporting  liquid 
manure  to  the  farms  near  the  borders  of  the  lake.     Along  the  roadside 


VIEW  OF  LAKE   BIWA. 


301 


HOKSE    CARRYING    LIQUID    MAXURE. 


they    saw     little     family 

groups  that  were  always 

more  or  less  picturesque; 

fathers    M'ere    caring    for 

their  children,  and  seemed 

to   take  great    delight  in 

playing  the  part  of  nurse. 

It  is  very  common  in  all 

the  Japanese  cities  to  see 

men    thus    occupied,  and 

they  never  appear  to  be 

weary  of  their  tasks.     In 

summer  both  parent  and 

child  will  be  thinly  clad, 

while  in  winter  they  will 

be  wrapped  against  the  cold.     The  summer  garments  are  not  always  so 

thick  as  the  rules  of  polite  society  require,  and  even  the  winter  costume  is 

not  very  heavy. 

Lake  Biwa  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  surrounded  by  picturesque 

mountains  and  smiling  valleys. 
Steamers  ply  upon  it,  so  that  an 
excursion  may  be  made  on  its 
waters  with  the  utmost  ease ; 
and  all  around  it  there  are  picnic 
booths  where  pai'ties  may  sit  and 
enjoy  the  view.  The  time  of  our 
friends  was  limited,  and  so  they 
had  only  a  glimpse  of  the  lake 
from  one  of  those  pleasure  re- 
sorts, if  a  couple  of  hours  spent 
there  may  be  called  a  glimpse. 

They  returned  to  Kioto,  and 
proceeded  without  delay  to 
Kobe.  They  found  the  railway 
journey  much  more  rapid  than 

the  one  by  jin-riki-sha,  but  it  had  the  demerit  of  carrying  them  so  fast  that 

very  little  could  be  seen  of  the  country.     The  day  after  their  arrival  at 

Kobe  the  steamer  was  ready  to  take  them  to  Nagasaki  and  Shanghai,  and  at 

the  appointed  hour  they  went  on  board.    Practically,  they  had  finished  their 

sight-seeing  in  Japan,  as  they  were  not  to  break  the  journey  until  setting 


THE   PATERNAL   NURSE. 


302 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


PICNIC   BOOTH    OVERLOOKING    LAKE    BIWA. 


foot  on  Chinese  soil.  They  left  it  with  the  most  agreeable  recollections, 
and  the  boys,  as  they  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer  slowly  moving  out 
of  the  harbor  of  Kobe,  simultaneously  asked  the  question, 


"  Wonder  if  we  shall  ever  see  it  again  ?" 


A    HAKEU    or    BOWS. 


THE   INLAND   SEA   OF  JAPAN. 


303 


CHAPTER  XXIL 

THE   INLAND    SEA  AND  NAGASAKI.— Cx\UGHT  IN  A  TYPHOON. 

FROM  Kobe  westward  the  route  lies  tlirougli  the  famous  Inland  Sea  of 
Japan,  known  to  the  Japanese  as  the  Suwo  Nada.  The  Inland  Sea 
is  more  like  a  lake  than  an  arm  of  the  ocean  ;  and  there  have  been  trav- 
ellers who  could  not  readily  believe  that  it  was  corinected  with  the  ocean, 
and  that  its  waters  were  salt  instead  of  fresh.  The  distance  is,  in  round 
numbers,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles;  and  through  the  entire  voy- 
age the  land  is  constantly  in  sight,  and  generally  close  at  hand.  The 
islands  rise  sharply  from  the  water,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  are 
densely  wooded  and  exceedingly  picturesque. 


THE  INLAND  SKA  NEAR  HIOGO. 


During  the  whole  of  the  voyage,  as  long  as  the  daylight  favored  them, 
our  young  friends  remained  on  deck,  and  studied  the  scenery  along  the 
route.  Sometimes  the  sea  widened  out  to  fifty  miles  or  more,  and  at 
others  it  contracted  so  that  there  was  no  sign  of  a  passage  before  them, 
and  it  was  difficult  to  say  which  way  the  steamer  would  turn,     Now  and 


304 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


then  the  islands  were  so  close  together  that  the  steamer  made  her  course 
as  though  she  were  tracing  the  sinuosities  of  the  Mississippi  liiver,  and 

it  was  necessary  to 
keep  a  sharp  lookout 
to  avoid  accidents  on 
the  numerous  rocks 
that  lie  sunken  in  the 
channel.  Mishaps  to 
the  steamers  are  of 
rare  occurrence,  as 
the  channel  has  been 
carefully  buo3'ed,  and 
the  pilots  understand 
their  business  fully ; 
but  it  is  otherwise 
with  the  unwieldy 
junks,  which  are  often 
driven  by  an  adverse 
wind  directly  into  the  dangers  their  captains  are  seeking  to  avoid.  Tire 
traffic  through  the  Inland  Sea  is  very  great,  both  by  the  steamei-s  and  by 
the  junks;  and  sometimes  whole  fleets  of  the  latter  may  be  seen  waiting 
in  some  of  the  sheltering  nooks  for  a  favoring  wind.  The  steamers  make 
the  passage  from  one  end  to  tlie  other  of  the  Inland  Sea  in  less  than 
twenty-four  hours ;  but  the  junks  are  frequently  a  fortnight  in  covering 
the  same  distance.  They  are  never  in  a  hurry,  and  therefore  time  is  no 
object. 


APPROACHING   8IM0NESEKI. 


DANGEROC8   PLACE   ON    THE   80WO   NADA. 


THK   HARBOR   OF   NAGASAKI. 


305 


The  Inland  Sea  is  entered  soon  after  leaving  Kobe,  and  it  terminates 
at  Simoneseki,  wliere  there  is  a  narrow  strait  leading  into  the  open  waters. 
Our  friends  wanted  to  land  at  Simoneseki,  where  the  steamer  made  a  halt 
of  a  couple  of  hours;  but  they  were  informed  that  the  port  was  not 
opened  to  foreigners,  and,  therefore,  their  only  view  of  it  was  a  distant 
one.  However,  they  were  consoled  by  the  reflection  that  they  could  have 
plenty  of  time  at  Nagasaki,  where  the  ship  was  to  remain  a  day  and  a 
half  before  continuing  her  voyage.  Nagasaki  was  the  first  place  opened 
to  foreigners,  and  there  are  many  points  of  interest  about  the  city. 

Hardly  was  the  anchor  down  when  our  trio  entered  a  boat  and  were 
rowed  to  the  shore.  Nagasaki  is  prettily  situated  in  a  bay  that  is  complete- 
ly landlocked,  and  affords  secure  anchorage  to  shii3S  even  in  the  severest 
gales.  Doctor  Bronson  had  been  in  the  harbor  of  Rio  Janeiro,  in  South 
America,  and  said  that  the  bay  of  Nagasaki  was  a  sort  of  pocket  edition 
of  that  of  Rio  Janeiro.  The  hills  rise  abruptly  from  the  water,  and  lie  in 
terraces  that  seem  to  lose  themselves  in  the  distance.  Some  of  the  hills 
are  wooded,  while  others  are  cleared  and  cultivated;  and  in  either  case 
there  are  evidences  of  the  most  careful  attention  on  the  part  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  country.  Looking  seaward  the  hills  gradually  separate  until 
the  entrance  of  the  bay  is  reached ;  here  the  island  of  Pappenberg  stands 
directly  across  the  month  of  the  bay,  and,  while  seemingly  obstructing  it, 
serves  as  a  breakwater  against  the  in-rollinor  waves. 


PAPPENBERG    ISLAND. 

20 


306 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLEliS. 


WOMUK   OF   NAGASAKI. 


"  That  island  has  a  fearful  history,"  said  Doetor  Bronson,  while  thej 
were  looking  at  it  when  the  steamer  entered  the  harbor. 

"  Do  3'ou  mean  the  island  of  Pappenberg  ?"  Frank  asked. 

"  I  know,"  said  Fred ;  "  it  has  a  historj'^  connected  with  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  in  Japan  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago." 

"  I  think  I  have  already  told  you  something  of  the  attempt  to  make 
Japan  a  Christian  country,"  the  Doctor  continued.  "  The  island  of  Pap- 
penberg is  one  of  the  places  that  witnessed  the  extinction  of  the  Christian 
religion  in  Japan  after  it  had  gained  a  strong  footing.  Do  you  observe 
that  one  side  of  the  island  is  like  a  precipice  f ' 

The  boys  regarded  the  point  to  which  their  attention  was  directed  ; 
and  they  regarded  it  more  attentively  when  they  were  told  that  from  that 
steep  rock  many  thousands  of  men  and  women  were  hurled,  solely  for  the 
offence  of  being  Christians.  Those  that  were  not  killed  by  the  fall  were 
drowned  in  the  sea,  and  not  one  was  allowed  to  escape.  Pappenberg  is 
known  in  history  as  the  Tarpeian  Hock  of  Japan.  It  is  now  used  as  a 
picnic  resort  of  the  foreign  inhabitants  of  Nagasaki,  and  a  more  delightful 
spot  for  a  pleasure  excursion  could  not  be  easily  found. 

According  to  some  writers  there  were  nearly  a  hundred  thousand 
Christians  massacred  after  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy  which  was  to 
put  Japan  under  the  control  of  Portugal,  but  the  Japanese  say  that  these 
figures  are  an  exaggeration.  It  is  difficult  to  get  at  the  truth  of  the  mat- 
ter, as  neither  party  can  be  relied  on  for  accuracy,  or  rather  the  accounts 
that  have  come  down  to  us  cannot  be  considered  iinpartial. 

As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained  the  first  European  who  landed  on  Jap- 


WORK   OF   ST.  FRANCIS   XAVIER. 


307 


anese  soil  was  Mendez  Pinto,  a  Portuguese  who  combined  the  occupations 
of  merchant  and  pirate  in  sucli  intimate  relations  that  it  was  not  always 
easy  for  him  to  determine  where  the  one  ended  and  tlie  other  began.  He 
has  been  greatly  slandered,  and  his  name  has  an  ignoble  place  in  history,  as 
that  of  a  champion  liar.  The  fact  is,  that  the  stories  he  told  on  his  return 
to  Europe,  and  which  caused  him  to  be  called  "  The  Mendacious,"  were 
substantially  correct — quite  as  much  so  as  those  of  Marco  Polo,  and  far 
more  than  the  narrations  of  Sir  John  Mandeville.  Pinto  came  with  two 
companions  to  the  island  of  Tanega- 
shima  in  1542,  and,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, they  were  great  curiosities. 
Even  more  curious  were  the  fire- 
arms they  carried ;  and  they  were  in- 
vited to  visit  the  Daimio  of  Bungo, 
and  bring  their  strange  weapons  with 
them.  They  did  so,  and  taught  the 
natives  how  to  make  guns  and  pow- 
der, which  soon  became  generally 
used  throughout  Japan.  To  this 
day  fire-arms  are  frequently  called 
"  Tanegashima,"  after  the  island 
where  Pinto  landed  with  the  first 
of  these  weapons.  Christianity  fol- 
lowed closely  on  the  track  of  the 
musket.  The  adventurers  returned 
with  a  profit  of  twelve  hundred  per 
cent,  on  their  cargo.  Their  success 
stimulated  others,  and  in  1549  two 
Portuguese  missionaries,  one  of  them 
being  Francis  Xavier,  landed  in  Japan,  and  began  the  work  of  converting 
the  heathen.  Xavier's  first  labors  were  in  Satsuma,  and  he  afterwards 
went  to  Kioto  and  other  cities.  Personally  he  never  accomplished  much, 
as  he  could  not  speak  the  language  fluently,  and  he  remained  in  the  coun- 
try only  a  few  years.  But  he  did  a  great  deal  to  inspire  others ;  numbers 
of  missionaries  flocked  to  Japan,  and  it  is  said  that  thirty  years  after 
Xavier  landed  on  the  soil  there  were  two  hundred  churches,  and  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  native  Christians.  At  the  time  of  the  highest 
success  of  the  missionaries  it  is  estimated  that  there  were  not  less  than 
half  a  million  professing  Christians  in  Japan,  and  perhaps  another  hundred 
thousand  who  were  nominally  so,  though  their  faith  was  not  regarded  as 


CHRISTIAN    VILLAGE     IN     THE     SIXTEENTH 
CENTCKY. 


308  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


HOXUMENTS   IN  MEMORY    OF    MARTYRS. 


more  than  "skin  deep."  Among  the  adherents  of  tlie  new  religion  tliere 
were  several  Daiuiios,  and  a  great  nnniber  of  persons  occnpying  high  social 
and  official  positions.  Some  of  the  Daimios  were  so  zealous  that  they  or- 
dered their  people  to  turn  Christians  whether  they  wished  it  or  not ;  and 
one  of  them  gave  his  subjects  the  option  of  being  baptized  or  leaving  the 
country  within  twenty-four  hours. 

The  Dutch  were  great  traders  in  the  East  Indies,  and  they  managed  to 
obtain  a  footing  in  Japan  during  the  time  of  the  Portuguese  success. 
Tiiey  received  a  concession  of  the  island  of  Deshima,  about  six  hundred 
feet  square,  in  the  harbor  of  Nagasaki,  and  here  they  lived  until  our  day. 
AVIien  the  troubles  arose  that  led  to  the  expulsion  of  foreigners  and  the 
extinction  of  Christianity,  the  Dutch  were  excepted  from  the  operations 
of  the  edict,  as  it  could  not  be  shown  that  they  had  had  any  part  in  the 
conspiracy.  They  liad  been  too  busy  with  their  commerce  to  meddle  in 
religious  matters;  and,  if  history  is  true,  it  is  probable  that  they  hadn't 
religion  enough  in  their  snuiU  colony  at  Deshima  to  go  around  and  give 
a  perceptible  quantity  to  eacii  man. 

This  little  island  was  in  reality  a  prison,  as  its  inhabitants  were  not 
allowed  to  go  outside  for  any  purpose,  except  once  in  three  years,  M'hen  a 
delegation  of  them  made  a  journey  to  Yeddo  to  make  presents  to  the  Ty- 
coon.    They  were  compelled  to  travel  the  most  of  the  way  in  closed  nori- 


THE  DUTCH   IN  JAPAN. 


309 


A    PATH    NEAR    NAGASAKI, 


mons,  and  thus  their  journey  did  not  afford  them  many  glimpses  of  the 
country.  Tliere  is  a  tradition  that  they  were  required  to  go  through  the 
ceremony  of  trampling  on  the  cross  in  the  presence  of  the  Tycoon,  and 
also  to  intoxicate  themselves,  as  a  warning  to  the  Japanese  to  shun  the 
wicked  ways  of  the  foreigners.  Whether  either  account  be  true  I  am  un- 
able to  say  ;  the  assertion  is  very  positively  made  and  as  positively  denied, 
and  therefore  I  will  leave  every  reader,  who  has  paid  his  money  for  the 
book,  to  make  choice  of  the  side  of  the  story  which  suits  him  best. 

The  first  move  of  our  friends  on  landing  was  to  go  to  Deshima,  as  they 
had  a  curiosity  to  see  the  little  island,  which  was  so  famous  in  the  history 
of  the  foreign  relations  of  Japan  with  the  outer  world.  The  drawbridge 
leading  to  the  island,  and  the  box  where  the  Japanese  sentries  stood,  were 
still  there,  and  so  were  some  of  the  buildings  which  the  Dutch  inhabited ; 
but  the  Dutch  were  gone,  and  probably  forever.  Outside  of  the  historical 
interest  there  was  nothing  remarkable  about  the  island,  and  the  boys  won- 
dered how  men  could  voluntarily  shut  themselves  up  in  a  prison  like  this. 
Only  one  ship  a  year  was  allowed  to  come  to  them,  and  sometimes,  during 


310 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


the  wars  between  Holland  and  other  countries,  there  were  several  years 
together  when  no  ship  came.  They  were  permitted  to  purchase  certain 
quantities  of  fresh  provisions  daily,  and  when  they  ran  short  of  needed  ar- 
ticles they  were  supplied  by  the  governor  of  Nagasaki.  But  no  permission 
could  be  granted  to  go  outside  their  narrow  limits.  How  they  must  have 
sighed  as  they  gazed  on  the  green  hills  opposite,  and  with  what  longing 
did  they  think  of  a  ramble  on  those  grassy  or  wooded  slopes ! 


HOLLANDER   AT    DESUIMA    WATCHING    FOR   A   SHIP. 


The  chief  use  of  Deshima,  as  our  friends  found  it,  is  to  serve  as  a  de- 
pository of  Japanese  wares,  and  particularly  of  the  kinds  for  which  Naga- 
saki is  famous.  Nagasaki  vases  and  Nagasaki  lacquer  were  in  such  quan- 
tities as  to  be  absolutely  bewildering,  and  for  once  the}'^  found  the  prices 
lower  than  at  Yokohama.  They  made  a  few  purchases — their  iinal  transac- 
tions in  Japan — and  then  turned  their  attention  to  a  stroll  through  the  city. 

There  was  not  much  to  amuse  them  after  their  acquaintance  with  other 
cities  of  Japan,  and  so  they  were  speedily  satisfied.  On  the  hill  overlook- 
ing the  town  and  harbor  they  found  an  old  temple  of  considerable  magni- 
tude, then  another,  and  another,  and  then  tea-houses  almost  without  num- 
ber. In  one  of  the  latter  they  sat  and  studied  the  scenery  of  Nagasaki 
until  evening,  when  they  returned  to  the  steamer. 

Another  ramble  on  shore  the  following  morning,  and  they  left  the  soil 


FAREWELL  TO  JAPAN. 


311 


of  Japan  for  the  deck  of  the  steamer.  At  noon  tliey  were  slowly  moving 
down  the  bay ;  they  passed  the  island  of  Pappenberg,  and,  as  they  did  so, 
Frank  read  from  a  book  he  had  picked  np  in  the  ship's  cabin  the  follow- 
ing paragraph  : 

•"'In  that  same  year,  when  the  last  of  the  Roman  Catholic  converts  were 
hurled  from  the  rocky  islet  of  Pappenberg,  in  the  Bay  of  Nagasaki,  a  few 
exiles  landed  at  Plymouth,  in  the  newly  discovered  continent,  where  they 
were  destined  to  plant  the  seeds  of  a  Protestant  faith  and  a  great  Protes- 
tant empire.  And  it  was  the  descendants  of  the  same  pilgrim  fathers 
that,  two  centuries  later,  were  the  first  among  Western  nations  to  supply 
the  link  of  connection  wanted,  to  bring  the  lapsed  heathen  race  once  more 
within  the  circle  of  Christian  communion,  and  invite  them  anew  to  take 
their  place  in  the  family  of  civilized  nations." 

And  while  meditating  on  the  mutations  of  time  and  the  strangeness  of 
many  events  recorded  in  history,  our  friends  passed  from  the  harbor  of 
Nagasaki  into  the  open  sea. 

"  Sayonara !"  said  Frank,  raising  his  cap  and  bowing  towards  the  re- 
ceding land. 

"  Sayonara !"  echoed  Fred,  as  he  followed  his  cousin's  example.  "  I 
say  '  Sayonara'  now,  but  I  hope  that  some  time  in  the  future  I  may  be  able 
to  say  '  Ohio.'  " 

"  And  so  do  I,"  Frank  added. 
"  It  is  a  charming  country,  and  I 
don't  think  we  shall  find  a  more 
agreeable  one  anywhere." 

The  conversation  was  cut  short 
by  the  call  to  dinner,  a  call  that  has 
suppressed  many  a  touch  of  senti- 
ment before  now,  on  land  as  well  as 
on  the  water. 

It  is  a  voyage  of  two  days,  more 
or  less,  according  to  the  speed  of  the 
steamer,  from  Nagasaki  to  Shanghai. 
Our  friends  had  hoped  to  be  in 
Shanghai  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
second  day  from  the  former  port; 
but  their  hopes  were  not  destined 
to  be  realized.  The  Japanese  gods 
of  Rain,  Wind,  and  Thunder  inter- 
fered. 


THE    RAIN    DRAGON. 


312 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


THE   WIND   DRAGON. 


THE   THUNDER    DRAGON. 


The  morning  after  their  departure  from  Nagasaki,  Frank  went  on  deck 
soon  after  daylight.  Tlie  wind  was  so  strong  that  it  ahnost  took  him  from 
his  feet,  and  he  vras  compelled  to  grasp  something  to  make  sure  of  remain- 
ing upright.  Tlie  sky  was  overcast,  and  every  few  minutes  there  came  a 
sprinkling  of  rain  that  intimated  that  the  cabin  was  the  better  place  for 
any  one  who  was  particular  about  keeping  dry.  Fred  joined  him  in  a  few 
minutes,  and  soon  after  Fred's  arrival  the  Doctor  made  his  appearance. 

The  Captain  was  on  the  bridge  of  the  steamer,  and  appeared  much  dis- 
turbed about  something,  so  much  so  that  the  boys  asked  Dr.  Bronson  if  he 
thought  anything  had  gone  wrong. 

The  Doctor  gave  a  hasty  glance  at  the  sky  and  the  water,  and  then  re- 
treated to  the  cabin,  where  a  barometer  was  hanging.  A  moment's  obser- 
vation of  the  instrument  satisfied  him,  or,  rather,  it  greatly  dissatisfied 
him,  for  he  returned  hastily  to  the  deck  and  rejoined  the  boys  with  the 
observation, 

"We  shall  have  it  very  lively  in  a  short  time,  and  are  not  likely  to 
reach  Shanghai  in  a  hurry." 

"  Why  ?    What  do  you  mean  ?" 

"  I  mean  that  we  are  about  to  have  a  typhoon." 

"  I  should  rather  like  to  see  one,"  Frank  remarked. 

"Well,"  the  Doctor  replied,  "you  are  about  to  be  accommodated,  and 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TYPHOON.  313 

if  we  get  safely  out  of  it  I  am  very  sure  you  will  not  want  to  see  an- 
other. 

"  But  as  we  are  in  for  it,"  he  continued,  "  we  must  make  the  best  of 
the  situation,  and  hope  to  go  through  in  safety.  Many  a  strong  ship  lies 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  where  she  was  sent  by  just  such  a  storm  as  we  are 
about  to  pass  through,  and  many  another  has  barely  escaped.  I  was  once 
on  a  ship  in  the  China  seas,  when  the  captain  told  the  passengers  that  it 
would  be  a  miracle  if  we  remained  half  an  hour  longer  afloat.  But  hardly 
had  he  done  speaking  when  the  wind  fell,  the  storm  abated,  and  we  were 
safe.  The  typhoon  is  to  these  waters  what  the  hurricane  is  to  the  West 
Indies;  it  is  liable  to  blow  at  any  time  between  April  and  September,  and 
is  often  fearfully  destructive. 

"  The  word  typhoon  comes  from  the  Japanese  '  Tai-Fun,'  which  means 
'great  wind,'  and  the  meaning  is  admirably  descriptive  of  the  thing  itself. 
There  is  no  greater  wind  in  the  world  than  a  typhoon  ;  the  traditional 
Avind  that  would  blow  the  hair  off  the  back  of  a  dog  is  as  nothing  to  it. 
A  cyclone  is  the  same  sort  of  thing,  and  the  two  terms  are  interchange- 
able; cyclone  is  the  name  of  European  origin,  while  typhoon  comes  from 
the  Asiatic. 

"  The  typhoon  blows  in  a  circle,  and  may  be  briefly  described  as  a  rapid- 
ly revolving  wind  that  has  a  diameter  of  from  two  to  five  hundred  miles. 
It  is  a  whirlwind  on  a  large  scale,  and  as  furious  as  it  is  large.  A  curious 
fact  about  it  is  that  it  has  a  calm  centre,  where  there  is  absolutely  no  wind 
at  all,  and  this  centre  is  sometimes  forty  or  fifty  miles  across.  Nearest  the 
centre  the  wind  has  the  greatest  violence,  and  the  farther  you  can  get 
from  it,  the  less  severe  is  the  gale.  Mariners  always  try  to  sail  away  from 
the  centre  of  a  typhoon,  and  I  have  known  a  ship  to  turn  at  right  angles 
from  her  course  in  order  to  get  as  far  as  possible  from  the  centre  of  a  coming 
tempest.  There  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  among  captains  concern- 
ing these  storms,  some  declaring  that  they  have  been  in  the  middle  point 
of  a  typhoon  and  escaped  safely,  while  others  aver  that  no  ship  that  was 
ever  bnilt  can  withstand  the  fury  of  a  storm  centre.  But  I  think  the 
weight  of  evidence  is  in  favor  of  the  former  rather  than  the  latter,  as  I 
have  known  captains  who  have  described  their  situation  in  such  a  way  as 
to  leave  not  the  slightest  doubt  in  my  mind  of  the  correctness  of  their 
statements. 

"If  you  have  any  desire  to  study  the  subject  fully,  I  advise  you 
to  get  'Piddington's  Law  of  Storms;'  you  will  find  it  treated  very 
fully  and  intelligently,  both  from  the  scientific  and  the  popular  point  of 
view. 


314 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


A.    TYPHOON. 


"  It  has  never  been  my  fortune,"  the  Doctor  continued,  "  to  be  farther 
in  a  typhoon  at  sea  tlian  the  outer  edge,  but  that  was  quite  as  much  as  I 
wanted.  One  time  on  land  I  saw  and  felt  one  of  these  tempests ;  it  drove 
ships  from  their  moorings,  swamped  hundreds  of  boats,  unroofed  many 
houses,  tore  trees  up  by  the  roots,  stripped  others  of  their  branches,  threw 
down  walls  and  fences,  flooded  the  land,  and  caused  a  vast  amount  of  havoc 
everywhere.  Hundreds  of  people  were  drowned  by  the  floods,  and  the 
traces  of  the  storm  will  last  for  many  years.  The  city  that  has  suffered 
most  by  these  storms  is  Calcutta.  On  two  occasions  the  centre  of  a  ty- 
phoon has  passed  over  the  harbor  or  within  a  few  miles  of  it,  and  the 
whole  shipping  of  the  port  was  driven  from  its  moorings  and  the  greater 
part  completely  or  partially  wrecked." 

While  they  were  listening  to  the  remarks  of  the  Doctor  the  boys  ob- 
served that  the  wind  was  increasing,  and  as  they  looked  at  the  compass 
they  found  that  the  ship's  course  had  been  changed.  Everything  about 
the  vessel  that  could  be  made  fast  was  carefully  secured,  and  the  party 
was  notified  that  they  might  be  ordered  below  at  any  moment.  The  waves 
were  not  running  high,  and  but  for  the  very  severe  wind  there  would  have 
been  nothing  to  cause  more  than  ordinary  motion  on  board  the  steamer. 

After  a  time  the  waves  broke  into  what  is  called  a  "choppy  sea;"  the 


A   RISING  BAROMETER.  315 

wind  was  so  great  that  their  crests  were  blown  away  before  they  could  rise 
to  any  height  worthy  of  notice.  Mariners  say  that  in  a  severe  typhoon  the 
ocean  is  quite  smooth,  owing  to  the  inability  of  the  waves  to  form  against 
the  irresistible  force  of  the  wind.  It  is  fortunate  for  them  that  such  is  the 
case,  as  they  could  not  possibly  survive  the  combined  action  of  the  cyclone 
and  the  great  waves  together. 

For  three  or  four  hours  the  wind  continued  to  increase,  and  the  waters 
to  assume  the  shapes  we  have  seen.  The  barometer  had  fallen  steadily, 
and  everything  indicated  that  the  arrival  of  the  steamer  at  Shanghai,  or  at 
any  other  port,  was  by  no  means  a  matter  of  certainty.  The  order  was 
issued  for  the  passengers  to  go  below,  and  our  friends  descended  to  the 
cabin.  Just  as  they  did  so  the  decks  were  swept  by  a  mass  of  water  that 
seemed  to  have  been  lifted  bodily  from  the  sea  by  a  gust  of  wind.  The 
order  to  go  below  was  not  issued  a  moment  too  soon. 

The  Doctor  took  another  glance  at  the  barometer,  and  discovered  some- 
thing.    The  mercury  was  stationary  ! 

Ten  minutes  later  it  had  risen  a  few  hundredths  of  a  degree.  The  rise 
was  small,  but  it  was  a  rise.  In  another  ten  minutes  another  gain  was 
perceptible. 

The  Doctor's  face  brightened,  and  he  called  the  boys  to  observe  what 
he  had  discovered.  He  had  already  explained  to  them  that  the  barometer 
falls  at  the  approach  of  stormy  weather,  and  rises  when  the  storm  is  about 
to  pass  away.  Before  a  storm  like  a  typhoon  the  fall  is  very  rapid,  and 
so  certainly  is  this  the  case  that  mariners  rely  upon  the  barometer  to 
give  them  warning  of  impending  danger. 

An  hour  from  the  time  they  went  below  they  were  allowed  to  go  on 
deck  again.  The  wind  had  abated  a  little,  so  that  there  was  no  further 
danger  of  their  being  swept  from  the  decks  by  the  water ;  the  clouds  were 
less  dense  and  the  rain  was  not  falling  so  heavily.  In  another  hour  there 
was  another  perceptible  decline  in  the  wind,  and  a  little  later  the  ship  was 
again  put  on  her  course.  The  captain  announced  the  danger  over,  and 
said  the  centre  of  the  typhoon  had  passed  at  least  a  hundred  miles  to  the 
west  of  them.  "  If  we  had  kept  our  course,"  said  he,  "  we  should  have 
been  much  nearer  to  it,  and  then  the  storm  would  have  been  more  danger- 
ous for  us." 

"How  do  you  know  which  way  to  turn?"  Frank  asked ;  "it  seems  to 
me  you  are  just  as  likely  to  run  to  the  centre  of  the  storm  as  to  the  cir- 
cumference." 

"  There's  where  you  don't  understand  the  science  of  storms,"  said  the 
captain  smiling.     "  In  the  northern  hemisphere  typhoons,  cyclones,  and 


316 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


Kf- 


Rf. 


53C 


IF 


sf 


A    y 


Beunion 


Centre  0  (fO  HoFricaii^ 


53° 


50* 


.«*■ 


5«» 


COURSE    OF   A    TYPHOON. 


hurricanes — they  are  all  the  same — whirl  from  left  to  riglit,  that  is,  they 
turn  like  the  hands  of  a  watch,  while  in  the  southern  hemisphere  their 
motion  is  exactly  the  reverse.  When  we  think  we  are  in  the  sweep  of  a 
typhoon  in  these  waters,  we  run  with  the  wind  on  our  starboard,  or  right 
hand,  and  that  coui'se  will  take  us  away  from  the  centre.  In  the  southern 
hemisphere  we  run  with  the  wind  on  the  port,  or  left  hand,  with  the  same 
result.    But  we'll  go  to  dinner  now  and  be  happj',  for  the  danger  is  over." 

Just  as  they  were  rising  from  table  they  were  suddenly  called  on  deck 
by  the  announcement  of  a  wreck.  An  American  bark  had  been  dismasted 
by  the  gale  and  lay  helpless  on  the  water ;  her  captain  wished  to  be  taken 
in  tow  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yang-tse-kiang,  and  after  some  minutes  spent 
in  making  a  bargain,  the  matter  was  arranged  and  a  line  passed  out. 

"  They  were  less  fortunate  than  we,"  the  Doctor  remarked  as  they  pro- 
ceeded with  their  tow. 


AN   OLD  ACQUAINTANCE. 


317 


CAUGHT    NEAU   THE    STORM  S    CENTUE 


"  Yes,"  answered  the  captain,  "  the  poor  fellow  was  nearer  the  centre 
of  the  typhoon  than  we  were.  There'll  be  a  job  for  the  ship-carpenters 
and  riggers  at  Shanghai;  it's  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  any  good." 

Frank  was  looking  through  the  captain's  glass  at  the  persons  who  were 
moving  about  the  deck  of  the  bark.  Suddenly  he  observed  something,  and 
called  out  to  his  companions : 

"  Look,  look !  here's  a  familiar  face !" 

The  Doctor  took  the  glass  and  then  handed  it  to  Fred ;  the  latter  look- 
ed steadily  for  a  minute  or  more  before  he  had  a  satisfactory  view,  and 
then  said : 

"  It's  our  old  friend,  the  Mystery  !" 


318 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
nilST   DAY   IN   CHINA. 

IX  due  time  they  entered  the  waters  of  tlie  great  river  of  Northern 
China,  the  Yang-tse.  They  entered  them  long  before  they  siglited 
land,  as  the  vast  quantities  of  earth  brouglit  down  by  the  stream  make  a 
change  in  the  color  of  the  sea  that  can  be  readily  distinguished  a  great 
distance  from  the  coast.  In  this  respect  the  Yang-tse  is  similar  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  effect  of  the  former  on  the  Yellow  Sea  is  like  that  of 
the  latter  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  coast  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yang-tse 
is  low  and  flat,  and  a  ship  is  faiily  in  the  entrance  of  the  river  before  land 
can  be  seen.     The  bar  can  be  passed  by  deep-draught  vessels  only  at  high 

water,  and  consequently  it  often  be- 
comes necessary  for  them  to  wait  sev- 
eral hours  for  the  favorable  moment. 
This  was  the  case  with  our  friends, 
and  they  walked  the  deck  with  im- 
patience during  the  delay.  But  at  last 
all  was  ready,  and  they  steamed  on- 
ward in  triumph,  dropping  their  tow  at 
Woosung,  and  waving  a  good-bye  to 
"the  Myster}',"  who  had  recognized 
them  from  the  deck  of  the  disabled 
bark. 

Shanghai  is  not  on  the  Yang-tse, 
but  on  the  Woosung  River,  about 
twelve  miles  from  the  point  where 
the  two  streams  unite.  The  channel 
is  quite  tortuous,  and  it  requires  care- 
ful handling  on  the  part  of  a  pilot  to 
take  a  ship  through  in  safety  to  her- 
self and  all  others.  Two  or  three  times 
they  narrowly  escaped  accidents  from 


."iilAiNCHAI 


THE   WOOSUNG   KIVEB. 


ASCENDING  THE  WOOSUNG. 


319 


CHINESE   TBADING-JCNK    ON    THE   WOOSCNG   RITEB, 


collisions  with  junks  and 
other  craft,  and  at  one  of  the 
turnings  the  prow  of  their 
steamer  made  a  nearer  ac- 
quaintance with  a  mud-bank 
than  her  captain  considered 
desirable  ;  but  nothing  was 
injured,  and  the  delay  that 
followed  the  mishap  was  for 
only  a  few  minutes.  The 
tide  was  running  in,  and  car- 
ried them  along  at  good 
speed ;  and  in  less  than  two 
hours  from  the  time  of  their 
departure  from  Woosung 
they  were  anchored  in  front 

of  Shanghai  and  ready  to  go  on  shore.  They  had  not  seen  anything 
particularly  interesting  on  their  voyage  up  the  river,  as  the  banks  were 
low  and  not  at  all  densely  settled.  Here  and  there  a  few  villages  were 
thrown  together,  and  it  occurred  to  Frank  that  the  houses  were  hud- 
dling close  up  to  each  other  in  order  to  keep  warm.  The  most  of  the 
ground  was  clear  of  timber;  but  there  were  some  farm-houses  stand- 
ing in  little  clumps  of  trees  that,  no  doubt,  furbished  a  welcome  shade 
in  the  summer  season.  One  mile  of  the  river  was  very  much  like  an- 
other mile,  and  consequently  the  monotony  of  the  scenery  made  the 
sight  of  Shanghai  a  welcome  one. 

Crowds  of  sampans  surrounded  the  ship  as  the  anchor-chain  rattled 
through  the  hawse-hole,  and  it  was  very  evident  that  there  was  no  lack  of 
transportation  for  the  shore.  The  Doctor  engaged  one  of  these  boats,  and 
gave  the  baggage  of  the  party  into  the  hands  of  the  runner  from  the  Astor 
House,  the  principal  hotel  of  the  American  section  of  Shanghai.  They 
found  it  a  less  imposing  affair  than  the  Astor  House  of  New  York,  though 
it  occupied  more  ground,  and  had  an  evident  determination  to  spread 
itself.  A  large  space  of  greensward  was  enclosed  by  a  quadrangle  of  one- 
story  buildings,  which  formed  the  hotel,  and  consequently  it  required  a 
great  deal  of  walking  to  get  from  one  part  of  the  house  to  the  opposite 
side.  Our  friends  were  shown  to  some  rooms  that  were  entered  from  a 
veranda  on  the  side  of  the  court-yard.  They  found  that  on  the  other 
side  there  was  a  balcony,  where  they  could  sit  and  study  the  life  of  the 
street ;  and  as  this  balcony  was  well  provided  with  chairs  and  lounges,  it 


320  THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

was  a  pleasant  resort  on  a  warm  afternoon.  The  house  was  kept  by  an 
American,  but  all  his  staff  of  servants  was  Chinese.  IVed  regretted  that 
lie  could  not  praise  the  diuing-table  as  earnestly  as  he  did  the  rooms,  and 
he  was  vehement  in  declaring  that  a  breakfast  or  dinner  in  the  Astor  at 
New  York  was  quite  another  affair  from  the  same  meal  in  the  one  at 
Shanghai.  The  Doctor  and  Frank  were  of  his  opinion ;  but  they  found, 
on  inquiry,  that  the  landlord  did  not  agree  with  them,  and  so  they  dropped 
the  subject. 

As  soon  as  they  were  settled  at  the  hotel,  they  went  out  for  a  stroll 
through  the  city,  and  to  deliver  letters  to  several  gentlemen  residing  there. 
They  had  some  trouble  in  finding  the  houses  they  were  searching  for,  as 
the  foreigners  at  Shanghai  do  not  consider  it  aristocratic  to  have  signs  on 
their  doors  or  gate-posts,  and  a  good  deal  of  inquiry  is  necessary  for  a 
stranger  to  make  his  way  about.  If  a  man  puts  out  a  sign,  he  is  regarded 
as  a  tradesman,  and  unfit  to  associate  with  the  great  men  of  the  place ; 
but  as  long  as  there  is  no  sign  or  placard  about  his  premises  he  is  a  mer- 
chant, and  his  company  is  desirable,  especially  if  he  is  free  with  his  money. 
A  tradesman  cannot  gain  admission  to  the  Shanghai  Club,  and  the  same  is 
the  rule  at  IIong-Kong  and  other  ports  throughout  the  East.  But  there 
is  no  bar  to  the  membership  of  his  clerk ;  and  it  not  infrequently  happens 
that  a  man  will  be  refused  admission  to  a  club  on  account  of  his  occupa- 
tion, while  his  clerk  will  be  found  eligible.  There  are  many  senseless 
niles  of  society  in  the  East,  and  our  boys  were  greatly  amused  as  the  Doc- 
tor narrated  them. 

Shanghai  is  very  prettily  situated  in  a  bend  of  the  river,  and  the  water- 
front is  ornamented  with  a  small  park, which  has  a  background  of  fine 
buildings.  These  buildings  are  handsome,  and  the  most  of  them  are  large. 
Like  the  foreign  residences  at  the  treaty  ports  of  Japan,  they  have  a  liberal 
allowance  of  ground,  so  that  nearly  every  house  fronting  on  the  -river  has 
a  neat  yard  or  garden  in  front  of  it.  The  balconies  are  wide,  and  they  are 
generally  enclosed  in  lattice -woik  that  allows  a  free  circulation  of  air. 
Back  from  the  water-front  there  are  streets  and  squares  for  a  long  dis- 
tance ;  and  the  farther  you  go  from  the  river-front,  the  less  do  you  find  the 
foreign  population,  and  the  greater  the  Chinese  one.  The  foreign  quarter, 
is  divided  into  three  sections — American,  English,  and  French — and  each 
l)as  a  front  on  the  river  in  the  order  here  given,  but  the  subjects,  or  citi- 
zens, of  each  country  are  not  confined  to  their  own  national  quarter ;  sev- 
eral Americans  live  in  the  French  and  English  sections,  and  there  are 
French  and  English  inhabitants  in  the  quarter  where  the  American  consul 
lias  jurisdiction.     There  is  generally  the  most  complete  harmony  among 


THE  GREAT  SEAPORT  OF  NORTHERN  CHINA. 


321 


!,:4^il  :,L 


21 


322 


THE   BOY   JIIAVELLERS. 


the  nationalities,  and  they  are  accustomed  to  make  common  cause  in  any 
dispute  with  the  Chinese.  Sometimes  they  fall  out ;  but  they  very  soon 
become  aware  that  disputes  will  be  to  their  disadvantage,  and  proceed  to 
fall  in  again.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  social  activity  at  Shanghai,  and 
a  vast  amount  of  visiting  and  dinner-giving  goes  on  in  the  course  of  a 
year. 

The  Chinese  city  is  quite  distinct  from  the  foreign  one ;  it  lies  just 
beyond  the  French  concession,  or,  rather,  the  French  section  extends  up  to 
the  walls  of  the  old  city.  The  contrast  between  the  two  is  very  great. 
While  the  foreigners  have  taken  plenty  of  space  for  the  construction  of 
their  buildings  and  laying  out  their  streets,  the  Chinese  have  crowded  to- 
gether as  closely  as  possible,  and  seemed  desirous  of  putting  the  greatest 
number  into  the  smallest  area.  It  is  so  all  over  China  from  north  to  south. 
Even  where  land  is  of  no  particular  value,  as  in  the  extreme  north,  the 
result  is  the  same ;  and  there  are  probably  no  people  in  the  world  that  will 
exist  in  so  small  an  area  as  the  Chinese.  Ventilation  is  not  a  necessity 
with  them,  and  it  seems  to  make  little  difference  whether  the  air  they 
breathe  be  pure  or  the  reverse.  In  almost  any  other  country  in  the  world 
a  system  of  such  close  crowding  would  breed  all  sorts  of  pestilence,  but  in 

China  nobody  appears  to  die  from  its 
effect. 

At  the  first  opporti.mity  our  friends 
paid  a  visit  to  the  Chinese  part  of 
Shanghai.  They  found  a  man  at  the 
gate  of  the  city  who  was  ready  to  serve 
them  as  guide,  and  so  they  engaged 
him  without  delay.  He  led  them 
through  one  of  the  principal  streets, 
which  would  have  been  only  a  narrow 
lane  or  alley  in  America  ;  and  they 
had  an  opportunity  of  studying  the 
peculiarities  of  the  people  as  they  had 
studied  in  the  Japanese  cities  the  peo- 
ple of  Japan.  Here  is  what  Frank 
wrote  down  concerning  his  first  prom- 
enade in  a  Chinese  city : 

"  We  found  the  streets  narrow  and 
dirty  compared  with  Japan,  or  with  any 
city  I  ever  saw  in  America.  The  shops  are  small,  and  the  shopkeepers 
are  not  so  polite  as  those  of  Tokio  or  other  places  in  Japan.     In  one  shop, 


COOLIE    IX    THE    STREETS    OF    SHANGHAI. 


MELON-SEEDS   AND   TEA.  323 

when  I  told  the  guide  to  ask  the  man  to  sliow  his  goods,  they  had  a  long 
talk  in  Chinese,  and  the  guide  said  that  the  man  refused  to  show  anything 
unless  we  should  agree  to  buy.  Of  course  we  would  not  agree  to  this,  and 
we  did  nothing  more  than  to  ask  the  price  of  something  we  could  see  in  a 
show-case.  lie  wanted  about  ten  times  the  value  of  the  article;  and  then 
we  saw  why  it  was  he  wanted  us  to  agree  beforehand  to  buy  what  we 
looked  at.  Every  time  we  stopped  at  a  shop  the  people  gathered  around 
us,  and  they  were  not  half  so  polite  as  the  Japanese  under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances. They  made  remarks  about  us,  which  of  course  we  did  not 
understand  ;  but  from  the  way  they  laughed  when  the  remarks  were  made, 
we  could  see  that  they  were  the  reverse  of  complimentary. 

"  We  Avent  along  the  street,  stopping  now  and  then  to  look  at  some- 
thing, and  in  a  little  M'hile  w^e  came  to  a  tea-house  which  stood  in  the 
middle  of  a  pond  of  water.  The  house  was  rather  pretty,  and  the  balco- 
nies around  it  were  nice,  but  you  should  have  seen  the  water.  It  was  cov- 
ered with  a  green  scum,  such  as  you  may  see  on  a  stagnant  pool  anywhere 
in  the  world,  and  the  odor  from  it  was  anything  but  sweet.  Fred  said  it 
was  the  same  water  that  was  let  into  the  pool  when  they  first  made  it. 
The  guide  says  the  house  is  a  hundred  years  old,  and  I  should  think  the 
water  was  quite  as  old  as  the  house ;  or  perhaps  it  is  some  second-hand 
water  that  they  bought  cheap,  and  if  so  it  may  be  very  ancient.  We  went 
into  the  house  and  sat  down  to  take  some  tea.  They  gave  us  some  tea- 
leaves,  on  which  they  poured  hot  water,  and  then  covered  the  cup  over  for 
a  minute  or  two.  Each  of  us  had  his  portion  of  tea  separate  from  all  the 
others.  The  tea  was  steeped  in  the  cup,  and  when  we  wanted  more  we 
poured  hot  water  on  again.  Then  they  brought  little  cakes  and  melon- 
seeds,  with  salt  to  eat  with  the  seeds.  Our  guide  took  some  of  the  seeds, 
and  w^e  ate  one  or  two  each  to  see  how  they  tasted.  I  can't  recommend 
them,  and  don't  think  there  is  any  danger  they  will  ever  be  introduced 
into  the  United  States  as  a  regular  article  of  diet. 

"  When  we  rose  to  go,  and  asked  how  much  we  owed,  we  were  aston- 
ished at  the  price.  The  proprietor  demanded  a  dollar  for  what  we  had 
had,  when,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  twenty-five  cents  would  have  been 
more  than  enough.  We  had  some  words  with  him  through  our  interpre- 
ter, and  finally  paid  the  bill  which  we  had  found  so  outrageous.  We  told 
him  we  should  not  come  there  again  ;  and  he  said  he  did  not  expect  us  to, 
as  strangers  rarely  came  more  than  once  into  the  Chinese  part  of  Shanghai. 
He  was  a  nice  specimen  of  a  Chinese  rascal ;  and  Doctor  Bronson  says  he 
must  have  taken  lessons  of  some  of  the  American  swindlers  at  IS^iagara 
Falls  and  other  popular  resorts.     What  a  pity  it  is  that  whenever  you  find 


324 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


A    TEA-HODSE    IN    THE    COUNTRY. 


something  outrageously  bad  in  a  strange  country,  you  have  only  to  think  a 
moment  to  discover  something  equally  bad  in  3'our  own  I 

"  At  one  place  we  looked  into  a  little  den  where  some  people  were 
smoking  opium.  They  were  lying  on  benches,  and  were  very  close  to- 
gether. The  room  wasn't  more  than  eight  feet  square,  and  yet  there  were 
a  dozen  people  in  it,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  more.  The  guide  told  us  it 
was  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  they  smoked  opium  as  we  smoke  tobacco. 
We  stand,  sit,  or  walk  while  smoking;  but  when  a  Chinese  uses  opium,  he 
always  reclines  on  a  bench  or  bed,  and  gives  himself  up  to  his  enjoyment. 


SMOKING   OPIUM. 


OPIUM-SMOKING  IN  CHINA.  325 

Men  go  to  the  shops  where  opium  is  sold  and  lie  down  on  the  benches  for 
a  period  of  pleasure.  Sometimes  two  persons  go  together,  and  then  they 
lie  on  the  same  bench  and  take  turns  in  filling  each  other's  pipe. 

"  The  opium  must  be  boiled  to  fit  it  for  use,  and  when  ready  it  looks  like 
very  thick  molasses.  A  man  takes  a  long  needle  and  dips  it  into  the  opium, 
and  then  he  twists  it  around  till  he  gets  a  ball  of  the  drug  as  large  as  a 
pea.  He  holds  this  ball  in  the  flame  of  a  lamp  till  it  becomes  hot  and  par- 
tially burning,  and  then  he  thrusts  it  into  a  little  orifice  in  the  top  of  the 
bowl  of  the  pipe.  He  continues  to  hold  it  in  the  flame,  and,  while  it  is 
burning,  he  slowly  inhales  the  fumes  that  come  from  it.  A  few  whiffs 
exhaust  the  pipe,  and  then  the  smoker  rests  for  several  minutes  before  he 
takes  another.  The  amount  required  for  intoxication  is  regulated  and  es- 
timated in  pipes ;  one  man  can  be  overcome  by  three  or  four  pipes,  while 
another  will  need  ten,  twenty,  or  even  thirty  of  them.  A  beginner  is  sat- 
isfied with  one  or  two  pipes,  and  will  go  to  sleep  for  several  hours.  He  is 
said  to  have  dreams  of  the  pleasantest  sort,  but  he  generally  feels  weak  and 
exhausted  the  next  day. 

"  Dr.  Bronson  says  he  tried  to  smoke  opium  the  first  time  he  was  in 
China,  but  it  made  him  very  ill,  and  he  did  not  get  through  with  a  single 
pipe.    Some  Europeans  have  learned  to  like  it,  and  have  lost  their  senses  in 


mw 


OPIUM-PIPE. 


consequence  of  giving  way  to  the  temptation.  It  is  said  to  be  the  most  se- 
ductive thing  in  tiie  world,  and  some  who  have  tried  it  once  say  it  was  so 
delightful  that  they  would  not  risk  a  second  time,  for  fear  the  habit  would 
be  so  fixed  that  they  could  not  shake  it  off.  It  is  said  that  when  a  Chinese 
has  tried  it  for  ten  or  fifteen  days  in  succession  he  cannot  recover,  or  but 
very  rarely  does  so.  The  effects  are  worse  than  those  of  intoxicating  liq- 
uors, as  they  speedily  render  a  man  incapable  of  any  kind  of  business,  even 
when  he  is  temporaril}^  f ree  from  the  influence  of  the  drug.  The  habit  is 
an  expensive  one,  as  the  cost  of  opium  is  very  great  in  consequence  of  the 
taxes  and  the  high  profits  to  those  who  deal  in  it.  In  a  short  time  a  man 
finds  that  all  his  earnings  go  for  opium,  and  even  when  he  is  comfortably 


326 


THE    BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


MAN   BLIMUKD    BY    USE    OF    OPICM. 


well  off  he  will  make  a  serious  inroad  on  his  property  by  his  indulgence  in 
the  vice.  A  gentleman  who  has  lived  long  in  China,  and  studied  the  ef- 
fects of  opium  on  the  people,  says  as  follows : 

"  'With  all  smokers  the  effect  of  this  vice  on  tlieir  pecuniary  standing 
is  by  no  means  to  be  estimated  by  the  actual  outlay  in  money  for  the  drug. 

Its  seductive  influence  leads  its  victims  to  neg- 
lect their  business,  and  consequently,  sooner 
or  later,  loss  or  ruin  ensues.  As  the  habit 
grows,  so  does  inattention  to  business  increase. 
Instances  are  not  rare  where  the  rich  have 
been  reduced  to  poverty  and  beggary,  as  one 
of  the  consequences  of  their  attachment  to 
the  opium  pipe.  The  poor  addicted  to  this 
vice  are  often  led  to  dispose  of  everything 
salable  in  the  hovels  where  they  live.  Some- 
times men  sell  tlieir  wives  and  children  to  pro- 
cure the  drug,  and  end  by  becoming  beggars 
and  thieves.  In  the  second  place,  the  smok- 
ing of  opium  injures  one's  liealth  and  bodily 
constitution.  Unless  taken  promptly  at  the  regular  time,  and  in  the  nec- 
essary quantity,  the  victim  becomes  unable  to  control  himself  and  to  at- 
tend to  his  business.  He  sneezes,  he  gapes,  mucus  runs  from  his  nose  and 
eyes,  griping  pains  seize  him  in  the  bowels,  his  whole  appearance  indicates 
restlessness  and  misery.  If  not  indulged  in  smoking  and  left  undisturbed, 
he  usually  falls  asleep,  but  his  sleep  does  not  refresh  and  invigorate  him. 
On  being  aroused,  he  is  himself  again,  provided  he  can  have  his  opium.  If 
not,  his  troubles  and  pains  multiply,  he  has  no  appetite  for  ordinary  food, 
no  strength  or  disposition  to  labor.  He  becomes  emaciated  to  a  frightful 
degree,  his  eyes  protrude  from  their  sockets ;  and  if  he  cannot  procure 
opium,  he  dies  in  the  most  horrible  agony.' 

"  The  government  has  tried  to  stop  the  use  of  opium,  but  was  prevent- 
ed from  so  doing  by  England,  which  made  war  upon  China  to  compel  her 
to  open  her  ports  and  markets  for  its  sale.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the 
Chinese  are  confused  as  to  the  exact  character  of  Christianity,  when  a 
Christian  nation  makes  war  upon  them  to  compel  them  to  admit  a  poison 
which  that  Christian  nation  produces,  and  which  kills  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  Chinese  every  year. 

"  We  made  all  our  journey  on  foot,  as  we  could  not  find  any  jin-riki- 
shas,  except  in  the  foreign  part  of  Shanghai.  They  wero  only  brought 
into  use  a  few  years  ago,  and  they  cannot  be  employed  in  all  the  cities  of 


RIDING    IX   A   CHINESE   CHAIR. 


327 


CHINESE   GENTLEMAN    IN    A   SEDAN. 


China,  because  the  streets  are  very  narrow,  and  the  carriage  could  not 
move  about.  But  we  saw  some  sedan-chairs,  and  one  of  these  days  we 
are  going  to  have  a  ride  in  them.  It  looks  as  tliough  a  ride  of  this  sort 
would  be  very  comfortable,  as  you  have  a  good  chair  to  sit  in,  and  then 
you  are  held  up  by  men  who  walk  along  very  steadily.  Ordinarily  you 
have  two  men ;  but  if  you  are  a  grand  personage,  or  are  going  on  a  long 
course,  three  or  four  men  are  needed.  The  chair  is  quite  pretty,  as  it  has 
a  lot  of  ornamental  work  about  it,  and  the  lower  part  is  closed  in  with 
light  panelling  or  bamboo-work.  It  is  surprising  what  loads  the  coolies 
carry,  and  how  long  they  will  walk  without  apparent  fatigue.  They  are 
accustomed  to  this  kind  of  work  all  their  lives,  and  seem  to  think  it  is 
all  right. 

"  We  came  back  pretty  tired,  as  the  streets  are  not  agreeable  for  walking 
on  account  of  the  dust  and  the  rough  places.  They  don't  seem  to  care 
how  their  streets  are  in  China.  When  they  have  finished  a  street,  they 
let  it  take  care  of  itself ;  and  if  it  wears  out,  it  is  none  of  their  business. 
I  am  told  that  there  are  roads  in  China  that  were  well  made  at  the  start, 
but  have  not  had  a  particle  of  repair  in  a  hundred  years.  They  must  be 
rough  things  to  travel  on." 


328 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

A  VOYAGE  UP  THE  YANG-TSE  KIANG. 

'T'^IIE  plans  of  the  Doctor  included  a  journey  up  the  great  river,  the 
-*-  Yang-tse.  There  was  abundant  opportunity  for  the  proposed  voy- 
age, as  there  were  two  lines  of  steamers  making  regular  trips  as  far  as 
Ilan-kow,  about  six  hundred  miles  from  Shanghai.  One  line  was  the  prop- 
erty of  a  Chinese  company,  and  the  other  of  an  English  one.  The  Chinese 
company's  boats  were  of  American  build,  and  formerly  belonged  to  an, 
American  firm  that  had  large  business  relations  in  the  East.  The  business 
of  navigating  the  Yang-tse-kiang  had  been  very  profitable,  and  at  one  time 
it  was  said  that  the  boats  had  made  money  enough  to  sink  them  if  it  were 
all  put  into  silver  and  piled  on  their  decks.  But  there  was  a  decline  when 
an  opposition  line  came  into  the  field  and  caused  a  heavy  reduction  of 
the  prices  for  freight  and  passage.    In  the  early  days  of  steam  navigation  on 


CANAL   M  I.NK    ><)!   IH    OF    SHANGHAI. 


UP  THE  YANG-TSE-KIANG.  329 

tlie  Yang-tse-kiang  a  passage  from  Shanghai  to  Ilan-kow  cost  four  hundred 
dollars,  and  the  price  of  freight  was  in  proportion.  For  several  years 
the  Americans  had  a  monopoly  of  the  business,  and  could  do  pretty  much 
as  they  liked.  When  the  opposition  began,  the  fares  went  down,  down, 
down ;  and  at  the  time  our  friends  were  in  China  the  passage  to  Ilan-kow 
was  to  be  had  for  twenty-four  dollars — quite  a  decline  from  four  hundred 
to  twenty-four. 

The  boys  had  expected  to  find  the  boats  in  China  small  and  incon- 
venient. What  was  their  astonishment  to  find  them  like  the  great  steam- 
ers that  ply  on  the  North  Eiver,  or  from  New  York  to  Fall  River  or 
Providence.  They  found  the  cabins  were  large  and  comfortable,  though 
they  were  not  so  numerous  as  on  the  American  waters,  for  the  reason 
that  there  were  rarely  many  passengers  to  be  carried.  The  captain,  pilots, 
engineers,  and  other  officers  were  Americans,  while  the  crew  were  Chinese. 
The  managers  of  the  company  were  Chinese,  but  they  left  the  control  of 
^  the  boats  entirely  in  the  hands  of  their  respective  captains.  One  boat  had 
a  Chinese  captain  and  officers,  but  she  was  a  small  affair,  and,  from  all  that 
-  could  be  learned,  the  managers  did  not  find  their  experiment  of  running 
with  their  own  countrymen  a  successful  one. 

At  the  advertised  time  the  three  strangers  went  on  board  the  steamer 
that  was  to  carry  them  up  the  river,  and  took  possession  of  the  cabins  as- 
signed to  them.  Their  onl}'^  fellow-passengers  were  some  Chinese  mer- 
chants on  their  way  to  Nanking,  and  a  consular  clerk  at  one  of  the  Brit- 
ish consulates  along  the  stream.  The  captain  of  the  steamer  was  a  jolly 
New-Yorker,  who  had  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  stories,  which  he  was  never 
tired  of  telling.  Though  he  told  dozens  of  them  daily,  Frank  remarked 
that  he  was  not  like  history,  for  he  never  repeated  himself.  Fred  remem- 
bered that  some  one  had  said  to  him  in  Japan  that  he  would  be  certain  of 
a  pleasant  voyage  on  the  Yang-tse-kiang  if  he  happened  to  fall  in  with 
Captain  Paul  on  the  steamer  Kiang-ching.  Fortune  had  favored  him,  and 
he  had  found  the  steamer  and  the  captain  he  desired. 

Frank  observed  that  the  steamer  had  been  provided  with  a  pair  of  eyes, 
which  were  neatly  carved  on  wood,  and  painted  so  as  to  resemble  the  hu- 
man eye.  The  captain  explained  that  this  was  in  deference  to  the  Chinese 
custom  of  painting  eyes  on  their  ships  and  boats ;  and  if  he  looked  at  the 
first  boat,  or  other  Chinese  craft,  large  or  small,  that  he  saw^,  he  would  dis- 
cover that  it  had  eyes  painted  on  the  bow.  This  is  the  universal  custom 
throughout  China;  and  though  a  native  may  have  a  suspicion  that  it  does 
no  good,  he  would  not  be  willing  to  fly  in  the  face  of  old  custom.  In  case 
he  should  leave  his  craft  in  blindness,  and  any  accident  befell  her,  he 


330 


THE   BOY   TKAVKLLKUS. 


would  be  told  by  his  friends,  "  Serves  you  right  for  not  giving  your  ship 
eyes  to  see  with." 

The  steamer  descended  the  "Woosung  River  to  its  intersection  with  tlie 
Yang-tse-kiang,  and  then  began  the  ascent  of  the  latter.  The  great  stream 
was  so  broad  that  it  seemed  more  like  a  bay  than  a  river.  This  condition 
continued  for  a  hundred  and  lifty  miles,  when  the  bay  narrowed  to  a  river, 
and  the  far-famed  Silver  Island  came  in  sight.  It  stands  in  mid-stream,  a 
steep  hill  of  rock,  about  three  hundred  feet  high,  crowned  with  a  pagoda, 
and  covered  from  base  to  summit  with  trees  and  bushes  and  rich  grass. 
At  firet  it  might  be  taken  for  an  uninhabited  spot,  but  as  the  boat  ap- 
proaclies  you  can  see  that  there  are  numerous  summer-houses  and  other 
habitations  peeping  out  from  the  verdure.  A  little  beyond  the  island 
there  is  a  city  which  straggles  over  the  hills,  and  is  backed  by  a  range  of 
mountains  that  make  a  sharp  outline  against  the  sky.  This  is  Chin-kiang, 
the  first  stopping-place  of  the  steamer  as  she  proceeds  from  Shanghai  to 
Ilan-kow.  She  was  to  remain  several  hours,  and  our  friends  embraced  the  , 
opportunity  to  take  a  stroll  on  shore.  Here  is  Frank's  account  of  the  ex- 
pedition : 


A   CUIKESE    FAMILY    l^AKTY. 


"  The  streets  of  Chin-kiang  are  narrow  and  dirty,  and  the  most  of 
them  that  we  saw  seemed  to  be  paved  with  kitchen  rubbish  and  other  un- 
savory substances.  The  smells  that  rose  to  our  nostrils  were  too  numer- 
ous and  too  disagreeable  to  mention  ;  Fred  says  he  discovered  fifty-four 
distinct  and  different  ones,  but  I  think  there  were  not  more  than  fort}-- 
seven  or  forty-eight.  The  Doctor  says  we  have  not  fairly  tested  the  city, 
as  there  are  several  wards  to  hear  from  in  addition  to  the  ones  we  visited 
in  our  ramble.     I  was  not  altogether  unprepared  for  these  unpleasant 


SIMILARITY  OF  CHINESE  CITIES. 


331 


A    GENTLEMAN    OF    CHIN-KIANG. 


features  of  Chin-kiang,  as  I  had  already  taken  a  walk  in  the  Chinese  part 
of  Shanghai. 

"  Ev'erybody  says  that  one  Chinese  town  is  so  much  like  another  that 
a  single  one  will  do  for  a  sample.  This  is  undoubtedly  true  of  the  most 
of  them,  but  you  should  make  exceptions  in  the  case  of  Canton  and 
Pekin.  They  are  of  extra  importance;  and  as  one  is  in  the  extreme  north, 
and  the  other  in  the  far  south,  they  have  distinctive  features  of  their  own. 
We  shall  have  a  chance  to  talk  about  them  by -and -by.  As  for  Chin- 
kiang,  I  did  not  see  anything  worth  notice  while  walking  through  it  that 
I  had  not  already  seen  at  Shanghai,  except,  perhaps,  that  the  dogs  barked 
at  us,  and  the  cats  rutfled  their  backs  and  tails,  and  fled  from  us  as  though 
we  were  bull-dogs.     A  pony  tried  to  kick  Fred  as  he  walked  by  the  brute, 


332 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


and  only  missed  liis  mark  by  a  couple  of  inches.  You  see  that  the  dumb 
animals  were  not  disposed  to  welcome  us  hospitably.  They  were  evidently 
put  up  to  their  conduct  by  their  masters,  who  do  not  like  the  strangers 
any  more  than  the  dogs  and  cats  do.  and  are  only  prevented  from  showing 
their  spite  by  the  fear  that  the  foreigners  will  blow  their  towns  out  of  ex- 
istence if  any  of  them  are  injured. 

"  We  bought  some  things  in  the  shops,  but  they  did  not  amount  to 
much  either  in  cost  or  quality.     Fred  found  a  pair  of  Chinese  spectacles 

M'hich  he  paid  half  a  dollar  for; 
they  were  big  round  things,  with 
glasses  nearl}'  as  large  as  a  silver 
dollar,  and  looked  very  comical 
when  put  on.  But  I  am  told 
that  they  are  very  comfortable 
to  the  eyes,  and  that  the  foreign- 
ers who  live  in  China,  and  have 
occasion  to  wear  spectacles,  gen- 
erally prefer  those  made  by  the 
Chinese  opticians.  A  pair  of 
really  fine  pebbles  will  cost  from 
ten  to  twenty  dollars.  The  glass- 
es that  Fred  bought  were  only  the 
commonest  kind  of  stuff,  colored 
with  a  smoky  tint  so  as  to  reduce  the  glare  of  the  sun. 

"  "We  went  outside  the  town,  and  found  ourselves  suddenly  in  the 
country.  It  was  a  complete  change.  Going  through  a  gate  in  a  wall  took 
us  from  the  streets  to  the  fields,  and  going  back  through  the  gate  took  us 
to  the  streets  again.  We  saw  a  man  ploughing  with  a  plough  that  had 
only  one  handle,  and  made  a  furrow  in  the  ground  about  as  large  as  if  he 
had  dragged  a  pickaxe  through  it.  The  plough  was  pulled  by  a  Chinese 
buffalo  about  as  large  as  a  two-year-old  steer,  and  he  was  guided  by  means 
of  a  cord  drawn  through  the  cartilage  of  his  nose.  It  was  a  poor  outfit 
for  a  farmer ;  but  the  man  who  had  it  appeared  perfectly  contented,  and 
did  not  once  turn  his  eyes  from  his  work  to  look  at  us. 

"  A  little  way  off  from  this  ploughman  there  was  a  man  threshing 
grain  on  some  slats ;  the}'  looked  like  a  small  ladder  placed  on  an  incline, 
and  the  way  he  did  the  work  was  to  take  a  handful  of  grain  and  thresh  it 
against  the  slats  till  he  had  knocked  out  all  the  kernels  and  left  nothing 
but  the  straw.  Such  a  thing  as  a  threshing-machine  would  astonish  them 
very  much,  I  should  think,  and  I  don't  believe  they  would  allow  it  to  run. 


CHINESE    Sl'LCTACLES. 


RURAL  SCENES. 


333 


PLOUGHING  WITH  A  BUFFALO. 


Labor  is  so  cheap  in  China  that  they  don't  want  any  machinery  to  save 
it;  when  you  can  hire  a  man  for  live  cents  a  day,  and  even  less, 
you  haven't  any  occasion  to  econ- 
omize. 

"  The  man  who  brought  the 
bundles  of  grain  to  the  thresher 
had  them  slung  over  his  shoulder, 
as  they  carry  everything  in  this 
country ;  two  bundles  made  a  load 
for  him,  and  they  were  not  large 
bundles  either.  Such  a  thing  as  a 
farm -wagon  is  as  unknown  as  a 
threshing  -  machine,  and  would  not 
be  useful,  as  the  paths  among  the 
fields  are  very  narrow,  and  a  wag- 
on couldn't  run  on  them  at  all. 
Land  is  very  valuable  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  towns,  and  they 
would  consider  it  wasteful  to  have 
a  wide  strip  of  it  taken  up  for  a 
road.  And,  as  I  have  just  said,  la- 
bor is  very  cheap,  especially  the  labor  of  the  coolies  who  carry  burdens. 
All  the  men  I  saw  at  work  in  the  field  were  barefooted,  and  probably 


THRESHING    GRAIN    NEAR    CHIN-KIANG. 


334  THE  BOY   TKAVELLEliS. 


CARRYING   BDNDLUS    OF   GRAIN. 


the  wages  thej  receive  do  not  leave  tliem  mncli  to  spend  on  boots,  after 
they  have  supported  tlieir  families  and  paid  their  taxes.  Tiiey  nnist 
liave  a  hard  time  to  get  along,  but  they  appear  perfectly  cheerful  and 
contented." 

From  Chin-kiang  the  steamer  proceeded  up  the  river.  The  account 
of  what  they  saw  was  thus  continued  by  the  boys : 

"The  southern  branch  of  the  grand  canal  enters  the  river  at  Chin- 
kiang;  the  northern  branch  comes  in  some  distance  below.  The  river 
is  plentifully  dotted  with  junks,  but  this  condition  is  not  peculiar  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  canal.  All  the  way  up  from  Shanghai  to  Ilan-kow  it  is 
the  same,  and  sometimes  twenty  or  thirty  boats  will  be  sailing  so  closely 
together  as  to  endanger  their  cordage  and  sides.  Perhaps  you  have  seen 
New  York  Bay  on  a  pleasant  afternoon  in  summer  when  ever}'  boat  that 
could  hoist  a  sail  was  out  for  an  airing  ?  Well,  imagine  this  great  river 
for  hundreds  of  miles  dotted  with  sails  as  thickly  as  our  bay  on  the  occa- 
sion I  have  indicated,  and  you  can  have  an  idea  of  the  native  commerce 
of  the  Yang-tse-kiang.  Nobody  knows  how  many  boats  there  are  on  the 
river,  as  no  census  of  them  is  taken.  The  mandarins  collect  toll  at  the  river 
stations,  but  do  not  trouble  themselves  to  keep  a  record  of  the  numbers. 
I  asked  a  Chinese  merchant  who  is  a  fellow-passenger  with  us  how  many 
boats  there  are  engaged  in  the  navigation  of  the  Yang-tse  and  its  tribu- 
taries, and  he  answere, 


BOATS  ON  CHINESE  RIVERS. 


335 


" '  P'raps  hunder  tousand,  p'raps  million  ;  nobody  don't  know.' 
"  Another  says, '  Great  many  big  million,'  and  he  may  not  be  far  out 
of  the  way,  though  his  statement  is  not  very  specific. 

"  I  have  heard  a  curious  story  of  how  the  foreigners  have  secured 
more  privileges  than  are  allowed  to  the  native  merchants.  Every  district 
has  the  right  to  tax  goods  passing  through  it.    At  each  district  there  is  a 


336  '^ill^    BOY    TRAVELLERS. 

barrier,  commanded  by  a  petty  official,  with  a  military  guard,  and  here 
each  native  boat  must  stop  and  pay  the  transit  tax.  For  long  distances 
these  taxes  amount  to  a  large  sum,  and  frequently  are  a  great  deal  more 
than  the  goods  cost  originally.  These  taxes  are  known  as  '  squeezes,' and 
the  barriere  where  they  are  paid  arp  called  '  squeeze  stations.'  But  the 
foreigners  have  secured  a  treaty  with  China,  or,  rather,  there  is  a  clause  in 
one  of  the  treaties,  which  exempts  them  from  the  payment  of  the  tran- 
sit '  squeezes;'  they  only  pay  the  customs  duties,  and  the  local  tax  at  the 
place  of  destination.  Transit  passes  are  issued  by  which  goods  belonging 
to  foreignei's,  though  carried  in  native  boats,  are  exempt  from  squeezing, 
but  these  passes  can  only  be  obtained  by  foreigners. 

"  Since  the  law  went  into  operation,  many  Chinese  merchants  have 
gone  into  partnership  with  foreigners ;  the  former  furnishing  the  capital 
and  attending  to  all  the  business,  while  the  latter  obtain  the  transit  passes 
and  give  the  name  to  the  firm.  A  gentleman  whom  we  met  in  Shanghai 
is  associated  with  some  wealthy  Chinese;  they  put  in  the  money,  and  he 
furnishes  his  name  and  gets  the  passes,  which  none  of  them  could  do. 

"  The  native  junks  will  always  give  a  free  passage  to  a  foreigner  who 
will  pretend  to  own  the  cargo,  since  they  can  escape  the  squeeze  if  he 
plays  his  part  successfully.  The  captain  says  that  last  year  a  sailor  who 
wanted  to  join  an  English  gun-boat  at  a  place  up  the  river  was  carried 
through  for  nothing  by  a  junk  whose  cargo  he  pretended  to  own.  He 
passed  as  a  '  foreign  merchant,'  but  the  fact  was  he  had  never  bought 
anything  in  his  life  more  valuable  than  a  suit  of  clothes,  and  had  sold  a 
great  deal  less  than  that. 

"  The  river  above  Chin-kiang  is  in  some  places  very  pretty,  and  the 
mountains  rise  out  of  the  water  here  and  there,  making  a  great  contrast 
to  the  lowlands  farther  down.  There  are  several  large  cities  on  the  way, 
the  most  important  (or,  at  all  events,  the  one  we  know  the  most  about)  be- 
ing Nanking.  It  was  famous  for  its  porcelain  tower,  which  was  destroyed 
years  ago  by  the  rebels.  Every  brick  has  been  carried  away,  and  they  have 
actually  dug  down  into  the  foundations  for  more.  There  is  only  a  part 
of  the  city  left ;  and  as  we  did  not  have  time  to  go  on  shore,  I  am  not  able 
to  say  much  about  it.  But  there  are  several  other  cities  that  were  more 
fortunate,  since  they  were  able  to  save  their  towers,  or  pagodas,  as  they 
are  generally  called.  These  pagodas  are  always  built  with  an  odd  num- 
ber of  stories,  usually  five,  seven,  or  nine ;  but  once  in  a  great  while  there 
is  an  ambitious  one  of  eleven  stories,  or  a  cheap  and  modest  one  of  only 
three.  We  saw  one  handsome  pagoda  of  nine  stories  that  had  bushes  and 
climbing-plants  growing  from  it.     I  suppose  the  birds  carried  the  seeds 


A   ROCKY  ISLAND. 


337 


there,  and  then  they  sprouted 
and  took  root.  They  make  the 
pagoda  look  very  old,  and  cer- 
tainly tliat  is  quite  proper,  as 
they  are  all  of  an  age  that  young 
people  should  respect. 

"  There  is  a  funny  little  isl- 
and— and  not  so  little,  after  all, 
as  it  is  three  hundred  feet  high 
— that  stands  right  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  river  at  one  place. 
They  call  it  the  Little  Orphan 
Rock,  probably  because  it  was 
never  known  to  have  any  father 
or  mother.  There  is  a  temple 
in  the  side  of  the  rock,  as  if  a 
niche  had  been  cut  to  receive 
it.  Fred  thinks  the  people  who 
live  there  ought  not  to  complain 
of  their  ventilation  and  drain- 
age ;  and  if  they  fell  out  of  the 
front  windows  by  any  accident, 
they  would  not  be  worth  much  when  picked  up.  Away  up  on 
of  the  rock  there  is  a  Irttle  temple  that  would  make  a  capital  ligl 


A   NINU-STORIED   FAGODA. 


the  top 
it-house, 


LITTLE    ORPHAN    ROCK. 


22 


338 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


but  I  suppose  the  Chinese  are  too  far  beliiud  tlie  times  to  think  of  turning 
it  to  any  practical  use.  Great  Orplian  liock  is  farther  up  the  river,  or  a 
little  out  of  the  river,  in  what  they  call  Po-yang  Lake. 

"  Around  the  shores  of  Po-yang  Lake  is  where  they  make  a  great  deal 
of  the  porcelain,  and  what  we  call  '  China  ware,'  that  they  send  to  Amer- 
ica. The  captain  says  he  has  frequently  taken  large  quantities  of  it  down 
the  river  to  Shanghai,  and  that  it  was  sent  from  there  to  our  country. 
They  dig  the  clay  that  they  want  for  making  the  porcelain  on  tlie  sliores 
of  the  lake,  and  they  get  their  fuel  for  burning  it  from  the  forests,  not  far 
away.  The  entrance  to  the  lake  is  very  picturesque ;  there  is  a  town  in 
a  fortress  on  a  hill  that  overlooks  the  river,  and  then  there  is  a  fort  close 
down  by  the  water.  Probably  the  fort  wouldn't  be  of  much  use  against 
a  fleet  of  foreign  ships ;  but  it  looks  well,  and  that  is  what  pleases  the 
Chinese." 


ENTRANCE   TO   PO-TANG   LAKE. 


THE  GREAT  REBELLION.  339 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  TAE-PING  REBELLION.— SCENES  ON  THE  GREAT  RIVER. 

THE  evidences  of  a  large  population  along  the  Yang-tse  were  easy  to 
see ;  but,  nevertheless,  Frank  and  Fred  were  somewhat  disappointed. 
They  liaid  read  of  the  overcrowded  condition  of  China,  and  they  saw  the 
great  numbers  of  boats  that  navigated  the  river,  and  consequently  they 
looked  for  a  proportionately  dense  mass  of  people  on  shore.  Sometimes, 
for  two  or  three  hours  at  a  time,  not  a  house  could  be  seen  ;  and  at  others 
the  villages  were  strung  along  in  a  straggling  sort  of  way,  as  though  they 
were  thinly  inhabited,  and  wished  to  make  as  good  a  show  as  possible. 
There  were  many  places  where  the  land  did  not  seem  to  be  under  cultiva- 
tion at  all,  as  it  was  covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  reeds  and  rushes.  In 
some  localities  the  country  appeared  so  much  like  a  wilderness  that  the 
boys  half  expected  to  see  wild  beasts  running  about  undisturbed;  they 
began  to  speculate  as  to  the  kind  of  beasts  that  were  to  be  found  there, 
and  finally  questioned  Dr.  Bronson  on  the  subject. 

The  Doctor  explained  to  them  that  this  desolation  was  more  apparent 
than  real,  and  that  if  they  should  make  a  journey  on  shore,  at  almost  any 
point,  for  a  few  miles  back  from  the  river,  they  would  find  all  the  people 
they  wanted.  "About  thirty  years  ago,"  said  he,  "they  had  a  rebellion 
in  China ;  it  lasted  for  a  long  time,  and  caused  an  immense  destruction  of 
life  and  property.  The  rebels  had  possession  of  the  cities  along  the 
Yang-tse,  and  at  one  period  it  looked  as  though  they  would  succeed  in 
destroying  the  government." 

"  Did  they  destroy  the  cities  that  we  see  in  ruins  ?"  Fred  asked. 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  Doctor, "  they  destroyed  several  cities  so  com- 
pletely that  not  a  hundred  inhabitants  remained,  where  formerly  there 
had  been  many  thousands ;  and  other  cities  were  so  greatly  injured  that 
the  traces  of  the  rebel  occupation  have  not  been  removed.  I  believe  there 
is  not  a  city  that  escaped  uninjured,  and  you  have  seen  for  yourselves  how 
some  of  them  have  suffered. 

"  The  rebellion,"  he  continued,  "  is  known  in  history  as  the  Tae-ping 


340 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


insurrection.  The  words  'tae  ping'  mean  'general  peace,'  and  were  in- 
scribed on  the  banners  of  the  rebels.  The  avowed  intention  of  the  leader 
of  the  revolt  was  to  overthrow  the  imperial  power,  and  deliver  the  country 
from  its  oppressors.  There  were  promises  of  a  division  of  property,  or, 
at  all  events,  the  rebels  were  to  have  free  license  to  plunder  wherever 
they  went ;  and  as  there  are  always  a  great  many  people  who  have  every- 
thing to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose,  the  rebellion  gathered  strength  as  time 
went  on.  Tiie  leaders  managed  to  convince  the  foreigners  that  they  were 
inclined  to  look  favorably  on  Christianity,  and  tlie  idea  went  abroad  tliat 
the  Tae-pings  were  a  sort  of  Chinese  Protestants,  who  wanted  to  do  away 
with  old  abuses,  and  were  in  favor  of  progress  and  of  more  intimate  rela- 
tions with  foreign  nations.  Many  of  the  missionaries  in  China  were 
friendly  to  the  rebellion,  and  so  were  some  of  the  merchants  and  others 
established  there. 


TAE-l-ISG    REBKL8. 


THE  TAE-PINGS  AND  TIIEIK  LEADER.  341 

"  So  powerful  did  the  rebels  become  that  they  had  nearly  a  third  of 
the  best  part  of  the  empire  under  their  control,  and  the  imperial  author- 
ities became  seriously  alarmed.  City  after  city  had  been  captured  by  the 
rebels,  and  at  one  time  the  overthrow  of  the  government  appeared  almost 
certain.  The  rebels  were  numerous  and  well  officered,  and  they  had  the 
advantage  of  foreign  instruction,  and,  to  some  extent,  of  foreign  arms. 
The  imperialists  went  to  war  after  the  old  system,  which  consisted  of 
sound  rather  than  sense.  They  were  accustomed  to  beat  gongs,  fire  guns, 
and  make  a  great  noivse  to  frighten  the  enemy ;  and  as  the  enemy  knew 
perfectly  well  what  it  was  all  about,  it  did  not  amount  to  much.  The 
suppression  of  the  rebellion  was  largely  due  to  foreigners,  and  the  most 
prominent  of  these  was  an  American." 

"  What  I  an  American  leader  for  Chinese  ?" 

"  Yes,  an  American  named  Ward,  who  rose  to  be  a  high-class  mandarin 
among  the  Cliiuese,  and  since  his  death  temples  have  been  erected  to  his 
honor.  He  came  to  Shanghai  in  1860,  and  was  looking  around  for  some- 
thing to  do.  The  rebels  were  within  forty  miles  of  the  city,  and  their 
appearance  in  front  of  it  was  hourly  expected.  They  were  holding  the 
city  of  Soon-keong,  and  Ward  proposed  to  take  this  place  by  contract,  as 
one  might  propose  to  build  a  house  or  a  railway  line." 

The  boys  laughed  at  the  idea  of  carrying  on  war  by  contract,  but  were 
reminded  that  they  were  in  China,  where  things  are  done  otherwise  than 
in  Europe  and  America. 

"The  conditions  of  the  contract  were  that  Ward  should  raise  a  force 
of  fifty  Malays,  and  undertake  the  capture  of  a  walled  city  having  a  gar- 
rison of  four  thousand  rebels.  If  he  succeeded,  he  was  to  have  a  certain 
sum  of  money — I  think  it  was  ten  thousand  dollars — and  was  then  to  raise 
a  force  of  one  thousand  Chinese  with  twentv-five  foreign  officers,  and  was 
to  have  command  of  this  army  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  the  rebellion. 

"  Soon-keong  has  four  gates,  and  they  w^ere  opened  at  a  certain  hour 
in  the  morning.  Ward  went  there  secretly  one  night,  and  sent  fourteen 
of  his  men  to  each  of  three  of  the  gates,  while  he  himself  went  with  the  re- 
maining eight  men  to  the  fourth  gate.  The  rebels  suspected  nothing,  and 
at  the  usual  time  the  gates  were  opened.  Ward's  men  rushed  in  simul- 
taneously at  the  four  gates,  made  a  great  noise,  set  fire  to  several  build- 
ings, killed  everybody  they  met,  and  pushed  on  for  the  centre  of  the 
town.  In  less  than  ten  minutes  the  enemy  had  fled,  and  the  battle  was 
over.  Ward  was  in  full  possession  of  the  place,  and  a  force  of  the  impe- 
rial army,  which  was  waiting  near  by,  was  marched  in,  to  make  sure  that 
the  rebels  would  not  return. 


342 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


GICNEKAL    WAliO. 


"  Ward  raised  the  army  tliat  he  had  proposed,  and  from  one  thousand 
it  soon  grew  to  three  thousand.  It  was  armed  with  foreign  rifles,  and 
had  a  battery  of  European  artillery.  The  officers  were  English,  American, 
French,  and  of  other  foreign  nationalities,  and  the  men  were  drilled  in  the 
European  fashion.  So  uniformly  were  they  successful  that  they  received 
the  name  of  'the  Invincibles,'  and  retained  it  through  all  their  career. 
The  American  adventurer  became  'General'  Ward,  was  naturalized  as  a 
Chinese  subject,  was  made  a  red-button  mandarin,  and  received  from  the 
government  a  present  of  a  large  tract  of  land  and  a  fine  house  in  Shang- 
hai. He  was  several  times  wounded,  and  finally,  in  October,  1862,  he  was 
killed  in  an  attack  on  one  of  the  rebel  strongholds. 

"  Ward  was  succeeded  by  an  American  named  Bnrgevine,  who  had  been 


BURGEVINE  AND  GORDON. 


343 


THE    GATE    WHICH    WARD    ATTACKED. 


one  of  his  subordinates.  Burgevine  was  quite  as  successful  as  Ward  had 
been,  and  at  one  time  with  his  army  of  5000  trained  Chinese  he  defeated 
95,000  of  the  Tae-ping  rebels.  This  made  an  end  of  the  rebellion  in 
that  part  of  the  country,  but  it  was  flourishing  in  other  localities.  Bur- 
gevine had  some  trouble  with  the  authorities,  which  led  to  his  retirement; 
and  after  that  the  Invincible  army  was  commanded  by  an  English  officer 
named  Gordon,  who  remained  at  the  head  of  it  till  the  downfall  of  the 
Tae-pings  and  the  end  of  the  rebellion.  The  success  of  this  little  army 
against  the  large  force  of  the  rebels  shows  the  great  advantages  of  disci- 


344 


THE  BOY   TKAVELLEIiS. 


GENKRAL    BURGEVINE. 


pline.  In  all  time  and  in  all  countries  this  advantage  lias  been  apparent, 
but  in  none  more  so  than  in  China.  If  the  power  of  AVard  and  his  men 
had  been  with  the  rebels  instead  of  against  them,  it  is  highly  probable 
that  the  government  would  have  been  overthrown.  A  few  hundred  well- 
trained  soldiers  could  have  decided  the  fate  of  an  empire." 

The  conversation  about  the  Tae-ping  rebellion  and  its  termination  oc- 
curred while  the  steamer  was  steadily  making  her  way  against  the  muddy 
waters  of  the  Yang-tse.  The  party  were  sitting  on  the  forward  deck  of 
the  boat,  and  just  as  the  closing  words  of  the  Doctor's  remarks  were  pro- 
nounced, there  was  a  new  and  unexpected  sensation. 

The  day  was  perfectly  clear,  but  suddenly  a  cloud  appeared  to  be 
forming  like  a  thick  mist.  As  they  came  nearer  to  it  they  discovered 
what  it  was,  and  made  the  discovery  through  their  sense  of  feeling.     It 


A  FLIGHT  OF  LOCUSTS.  345 

was  a  cloud  of  Ipcnsts  moving  from  the  southern  to  the  northern  bank  of 
the  river ;  they  had  devastated  a  large  area,  and  were  now  hastening  to 
fresh  woods  and  pastures  new.  They  tilled  the  air  so  densely  as  to  obscure 
the  sun,  and  for  more  than  an  hour  the  steamer  was  enveloped  in  them. 
These  locusts  are  the  scourge  of  China,  as  they  are  of  other  countries. 
They  are  worse  in  some  years  than  in  others,  and  in  several  instances  they 
have  been  the  cause  of  local  famines,  or  of  great  scarcity. 

Of  course  many  of  the  locusts  fell  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  and 
found  their  way  to  the  cabins.  The  flight  of  the  cloud  was  from  south  to 
north,  and  Frank  observed  a  remarkable  peculiarity  about  the  movements 
of  individual  members  of  the  immense  swarm.  He  captured  several  and 
placed  them  on  the  cabin  table.  No  matter  in  what  direction  he  turned 
their  heads,  they  immediately  faced  about  towards  the  north,  and  as  long 
as  they  were  in  the  cabin  they  continued  to  try  to  escape  on  the  northern 
side.  After  the  boat  had  passed  through  the  swarm,  the  boys  released 
several  of  the  captives,  and  found  that,  no  matter  how  they  were  directed 
at  the  moment  of  their  release,  they  immediately  turned  and  flew  away  to 
the  north. 

"They've  one  consolation,"  Fred  remarked — "they  have  their  com- 
passes always  about  them,  and  have  no  need  to  figure  np  their  reckoning 
with  '  Bowditch's  Navigator '  to  know  which  way  to  steer." 

"Don't  you  remember,"  Frank  retorted,  "our  old  teacher  used  to  tell 
us  that  instinct  was  often  superior  to  reason.  Birds  and  animals  and 
fishes  make  their  annual  migrations,  and  know  exactly  where  they  are 
going,  which  is  more  than  most  men  could  begin  to  do.  These  locusts 
are  guided  by  instinct,  and  they  are  obliged  to  be,  as  they  would  starve  if 
they  had  to  reason  about  their  movements,  and  study  to  know  where  to 
go.  Just  think  of  a  locust  sitting  down  to  a  map  of  China,  when  there 
were  millions  of  other  locusts  all  doing  the  same  thing.  They  wouldn't 
have  maps  enough  to  go  around ;  and  when  they  got  to  a  place  they  want- 
ed to  reach,  they  would  find  that  others  had  been  there  before  them  and 
eaten  up  all  the  grass." 

Frank's  practical  argument  about  instinct  received  the  approval  of  his 
friends,  and  then  the  topic  of  conversation  was  changed  to  something  else. 

Both  the  boys  were  greatly  interested  in  the  various  processes  of  work 
that  were  visible  on  shore.  Groups  of  men  were  to  be  seen  cutting  reeds 
for  fuel,  or  for  the  roofs  of  houses,  where  they  make  a  warm  thatch  that 
keeps  out  the  rain  and  snow.  Other  groups  were  gathering  cotton,  hemp, 
millet,  and  other  products  of  the  earth  ;  and  at  several  points  there  were 
men  with  blue  hands,  who  were  extracting  indigo  from  the  plant  which 


346  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

produces  it.  The  plant  is  bruised  and  soaked  in  water  till  the  coloring- 
matter  is  drawn  out ;  the  indigo  settles  to  the  bottom  of  the  tub,  and  the 
water  is  poured  off ;  and  after  being  dried  in  the  sun,  the  cake  forms  the 
indigo  of  commerce.  In  many  places  there  were  little  stages  about  thirty 
feet  high,  and  just  large  enough  at  the  top  for  one  man,  who  worked 
there  patiently  and  alone.  Frank  could  not  make  out  the  employment  of 
these  men,  and  neither  could  Fred.  After  puzzling  awhile  over  the  mat- 
ter, they  referred  it  to  Doctor  Bronson. 

"Those  men,"  the  Doctor  explained,  "are  engaged  in  making  ropes  or 
cables  out  of  the  fibres  of  bamboo." 

"  Why  don't  they  work  on  the  ground  instead  of  climbing  up  there?" 
Fred  asked. 

"  Because,"  was  the  reply,  "  they  want  to  keep  the  cable  straight  while 
they  are  braiding  it.  As  fast  as  they  braid  it  it  hangs  down  by  its  own 
weight,  and  coils  on  the  ground  beneath.  No  expensive  machinery  is 
needed,  and  the  principal  labor  in  the  business  is  to  carry  the  bamboo 
fibre  to  the  platform  where  it  is  wanted.  This  cable  is  very  strong  and 
cheap,  and  takes  the  place  of  hemp  rope  in  a  great  many  ways.  It  is 
larger  and  rougher  than  a  hempen  rope  of  the  same  strength,  but  the 
Chinese  are  willing  to  sacrifice  beauty  for  cheapness  in  the  majority  of 
practical  things." 

The  Chinese  have  a  way  of  catching  fish  which  is  peculiar  to  them- 
selves, and  much  practised  along  the  Yang-tse.  A  net  several  feet  square 
hangs  at  the  end  of  a  long  pole,  and  is  lowered  gently  into  the  water  and 
then  suddenly  raised.  Any  fish  that  happens  to  be  swimming  over  the 
net  at  the  time  is  liable  to  be  taken  in.  He  is  lifted  from  the  large  net 
by  means  of  a  small  scoop,  and  the  raising  and  lowering  process  is  re- 
sumed. Fred  thought  it  was  an  excellent  employment  for  a  lazy  man, 
and  Frank  suggested  that  it  would  be  better  for  two  lazy  men  than  one, 
as  they  could  keep  each  other  company. 

The  boys  were  desirous  of  seeing  how  the  Chinese  catch  fish  with  the 
aid  of  cormorants,  and  were  somewhat  disappointed  when  told  that  these 
birds  were  rarely  used  on  the  Yang-tse,  but  must  be  looked  for  on  some 
of  the  lakes  and  ponds  away  from  the  great  stream,  and  particularly  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  empire.  The  Doctor  thus  described  this  novel 
mode  of  catching  fish : 

"  Three  or  four  cormorants  and  a  raft  are  necessary  in  this  way  of  fish- 
ing. The  cormorants  are  stupid-looking  birds  about  the  size  of  geese,  but 
are  of  a  dark  color,  so  that  they  cannot  be  readily  seen  by  the  fish.  The 
i-aft  is  of  bamboo  logs  bound  together,  and  about  three  feet  wide  by  twenty 


CHINESE  MODE  OF  CATCHING  iTISH. 


347 


in  length.  The  fisherman  is  armed  with  a  paddle  for  propelling  his  raft 
and  a  scoop-net  for  taking  the  fish  after  they  have  been  caught  by  the  cor- 
morant, and  he  has  a  large  basket  for  holding  the  fish  after  they  have  been 
safely  secured.  Each  cormorant  has  a  cord  or  ring  around  his  neck  to 
prevent  him  from  swallowing  the  fish  he  has  taken,  and  it  is  so  tight  that 
he  cannot  get  down  any  but  the  smallest  fish. 


FISHING   WITH   COBMOBANTS. 


"  The  birds  dive  off  from  the  raft,  and  can  swim  under  water  with  great 
rapidity.  Sometimes  they  are  not  inclined  to  fish,  and  require  to  be  pushed 
off,  and,  perhaps,  beaten  a  little  by  their  master.  If  they  have  been  well 
trained,  they  swim  directly  towards  the  raft,  when  they  rise  to  the  surface ; 
but  sometimes  a  cormorant  will  go  off  the  other  way,  in  the  hope  of  being 
able  to  swallow  the  fish  he  holds  in  his  mouth.    In  such  case  the  fisherman 


348  TUE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

follows  and  captures  the  runaway,  punishing  him  soundly  for  his  miscon- 
duct. Whenever  a  bird  catches  a  fish  and  brings  it  to  the  raft,  he  is  re- 
warded with  a  mouthful  of  food.  In  this  way  he  soon  learns  to  associate 
his  success  with  something  to  eat ;  and  a  cormorant  that  has  been  well 
trained  has  a  good  deal  of  fidelity  in  his  composition.  I  am  uncertain 
which  to  admire  most,  the  dexterity  of  the  fisherman  in  handling  his  raft, 
or  the  perseverance  and  celerity  of  the  cormorants." 

On  her  arrival  at  Ilan-kow,  the  steamer  was  tied  up  to  the  bank  in  front 
of  the  portion  of  the  city  occupied  by  the  foreigners.  Ilan-kow  is  on  a 
broad  tongue  of  land  at  the  junction  of  the  Han  with  the  Yang-tse.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Han  is  the  city  of  Han-yang,  and  over  on  the 
other  bank  of  the  Yang-tse  is  Wo-chang.  Here  is  the  brief  description 
given  by  the  Doctor  in  a  letter  to  friends  at  home : 

"A  hill  between  Ilan-kow  and  Han-yang  rises  about  six  hundred 
feet,  and  affords  one  of  the  finest  views  in  the  world,  and,  in  some  re- 
spects, one  of  the  most  remarkable.  We  climbed  there  yesterday  a  little 
before  sunset,  and  remained  as  long  as  the  fading  daylight  and  the  exigen- 
cies of  our  return  permitted.  At  our  feet  lay  the  Yang-tse,  rolling  tow- 
ards the  sea  after  its  junction  with  the  Han,  which  we  could  trace  afar, 
like  a  ribbon  of  silver  winding  through  the  green  plain.  Away  to  the 
west  was  a  range  of  mountains,  lighted  by  the  setting  sun,  and  overhung 
with  golden  and  purple  clouds ;  while  to  the  south  was  an  undulating 
country,  whose  foreground  was  filled  with  the  walled  city  of  Wo-chang. 
The  crenelated  walls  enclose  an  enormous  space,  much  of  which  is  so  des- 
olate that  foreigners  are  accustomed  to  hunt  pheasants  and  hares  within 
the  limits.  They  say  that  at  one  time  all  this  space  was  covered  with 
buildings,  and  that  the  buildings  were  crowded  with  occupants.  The 
three  cities  suffered  terribly  during  the  rebellion,  and  more  than  three 
fourths  of  their  edifices  were  levelled.  Looking  from  the  hill,  it  is  easy 
to  see  the  traces  of  the  destruction,  although  twenty  years  have  passed 
since  the  insurrection  was  suppressed.  The  population  of  the  three  cities 
was  said  to  have  been  four  or  five  millions;  but,  even  after  making  allow- 
ance for  the  density  with  which  Chinese  cities  are  crowded,  I  should  think 
those  figures  were  too  high.  However,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  very 
great,  and  probably  more  people  lived  here  than  on  any  similar  area  any- 
where else  in  the  w^orld." 

Ilan-kow  is  a  great  centre  of  trade.  Frequently  the  mouth  of  the  Han 
is  so  crowded  with  junks  that  the  river  is  entirely  covered,  and  you  may 
walk  for  hours  by  merely  ste])ping  from  one  boat  to  another.  The  upper 
Yang-tse  and  the  Han  bring  down  large  quantities  of  tea,  furs,  silk,  wax, 


PREPARING   BRICK   TEA. 


349 


A   STREET    IN    HAN-KOW. 


and  other  products,  both  for  home  use  and  for  export.  There  are  lieavv 
exports  of  tea  from  Han-kow  direct  to  England,  and  every  year  steamers 
go  there  to  load  with  cargoes,  which  they  take  to  London  as  rapidly  as 
possible.  Our  friends  were  told  that  there  was  a  large  trade  in  brick  tea, 
which  was  prepared  for  the  Russian  market ;  and  as  the  boys  were  anxious 
to  see  the  process  of  preparation,  a  visit  to  one  of  the  factories  was  ar- 
ranged.    Frank  made  a  note  of  what  he  saw  and  wrote  it  out  as  follows : 

"  The  dry  tea  is  weighed  out  into  portions  for  single  bricks,  and  each 
portion  is  wrapped  in  a  cloth  and  placed  over  a  steam-boiler.  When  it  is 
thoroughly  steamed,  it  is  poured  into  a  mould  and  placed  beneath  a  ma- 
chine, which  presses  it  into  the  required  shape  and  size.  Some  of  the 
machines  are  worked  by  hand,  and  others  by  steam.  Both  kinds  are  very 
rapid  and  efficient,  and  we  could  not  see  that  the  steam  had  much  advan- 
tage. Five  men  working  a  hand  machine,  and  receiving  twenty  cents 
each  for  a  day's  labor,  were  able  to  press  six  bricks  a  minute,  as  we  found 
by  timing  them  with  our  watches.  The  steam  press  worked  only  a  little 
faster,  and  the  cost  of  fuel  must  have  been  about  equal  to  that  of  human 
muscle. 

"  Only  the  poorest  kind  of  tea  is  made  into  bricks,  and  each  brick  is 


350 


THE  BOY  TKAVELLERS. 


about  six  inches  wide,  eight  inches  long,  and  one  inch  thick.  After  it  has 
been  pressed,  it  is  dried  in  ovens;  and  wlien  it  is  thoroughly  dried  and 
ready  for  packing,  it  is  weighed,  to  make  sure  that  it  is  up  to  the  required 
standard.  All  bricks  that  are  too  light  are  thrown  out,  to  be  mixed  up 
again  and  done  over.  Nearly  all  of  this  business  is  in  Russian  hands,  for 
the  reason  that  this  kind  of  tea  is  sold  only  in  Russia." 

Doctor  Bronson  arranged  that  the  party  should  visit  Wo-chang  and 
see  a  famous  pagoda  that  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  There  was  not 
a  great  deal  to  see  after  they  got  there,  as  the  place  was  not  in  good  repair, 
and  contained  very  little  in  the  way  of  statues  and  idols.  The  stairways 
were  narrow  and  dark,  and  the  climb  to  the  top  was  not  accomplished 
without  difficulty.  Afterwards  they  went  through  the  principal  streets, 
and  visited  the  shops,  which  they  found  much  like  those  of  Shanghai  and 
Chin-kiang.  The  people  showed  some  curiosity  in  looking  at  the  stran- 
gers— more  than  they  had  found  farther  down  the  river — for  the  reason, 
doubtless,  that  fewer  foreigners  go  there. 


WO-CHANO. 


Wo-chang  is  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Iloo-peh,  and  the  governor- 
general  resides  there.  Our  friends  were  fortunate  enough  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  this  high  official  as  he  was  carried  through  the  streets  in  a  sedan-chair, 
followed  by  several  members  of  his  staff.  A  Chinese  governor  never  goes 
out  without  a  numerous  following,  as  he  wishes  the  whole  world  to  be  im- 


RETURN  TO  SHANGHAI. 


351 


pressed  with  a  sense  of  his  importance ;  and  the  rank  and  position  of  an 
official  can  generally  be  understood  by  a  single  glance  at  the  number  of 
his  attendants,  though  the  great  man  himself  may  be  so  shut  up  in  his 
chair  that  his  decorations  and  the  button  on  his  hat  may  not  be  visible. 

In  a  couple  of  days  the  steamer  was  ready  for  the  return  to  Shanghai. 
The  time  had  been  well  employed  in  visiting  the  streets  and  shops  and 
temples  of  Han-kow,  and  learning  something  of  its  importance  as  a  centre 
of  trade.  The  return  journey  was  begun  with  a  feeling  of  satisfaction  that 
they  had  taken  the  trouble  and  the  time  for  the  ascent  of  the  Yang-tse  and 
made  themselves  acquainted  with  the  internal  life  of  the  country. 


TUK   GOVEBNOK-GENEBAL  AND  HIS   SXAfF. 


352  THE  BOY  TliAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER  XXVL 

FROM  SHANGHAI   TO   PEKIN. 

OX  tlieir  return  to  Shanghai,  the  Doctor  informed  his  yonng  compan- 
ions that  tliey  would  take  the  iirst  steamer  up  the  coast  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Pekin. 

They  had  only  a  day  to  wait,  as  the  regular  steamer  for  Tien-tsin  was 
advertised  to  leave  on  the  afternoon  following  their  return.  She  was 
not  so  large  and  comfortable  as  the  one  that  had  carried  them  to  Han-kow 
and  back ;  but  she  was  far  better  than  no  steamer  at  all,  and  they  did  not 
hesitate  a  moment  at  taking  passage  in  her.  They  found  that  she  had  a 
Chinese  crew,  with  foreign  officers — the  same  as  they  had  found  the  river- 
boat  and  the  steamers  from  Japan.  The  captain  was  an  American,  who 
had  spent  twenty  years  in  China,  and  knew  all  the  peculiarities  of  the 
navigation  of  its  waters.  He  had  passed  through  two  or  three  shipwrecks 
and  been  chased  by  pirates.  Once  he  was  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  who 
led  him  out  for  execution ;  but  their  attention  was  diverted  by  an  attack 
on  the  town  where  they  Mere,  and  he  was  left  to  take  care  of  himself, 
which  you  can  be  sure  he  did.  Another  time  he  saved  himself  by  crawl- 
ing through  a  small  window  and  letting  himself  fall  about  ten  feet  into 
a  river.  Tlie  night  was  dark,  and  he  did  not  know  where  to  go ;  but  he 
thought  it  better  to  take  the  chance  of  an  escape  in  this  way,  as  he  felt 
sure  he  would  have  his  head  taken  off  the  next  morning  if  he  remained. 
Luckily  he  floated  down  to  where  a  foreign  ship  was  lying,  and  managed 
to  be  taken  on  board.  He  thought  he  had  had  quite  enough  of  that  sort 
of  thing,  and  was  willing  to  lead  a  quiet  life  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 

They  descended  the  river  to  the  sea,  and  then  turned  to  the  northward. 
Nothing  of  moment  occurred  as  the  steamer  moved  along  on  her  course, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  from  Shanghai  they  were  entering 
the  mouth  of  the  Pei-ho  River.  The  Doctor  pointed  out  the  famous  Taku 
forts  through  the  thin  mist  that  overhung  the  water,  and  the  boys  natu- 
rally asked  what  the  Taku  forts  had  done  to  make  themselves  famous. 

"  There  is  quite  a  history  connected  with  them,"  the  Doctor  answered. 


SCKXE  IN  THE  ANGLO-CHINESE  WAR. 


353 


23 


354  'i'HE  BOY  TKAVELLEllS. 

"  They  were  the  £cene  of  the  repulse  oi  the  Britisli  fleet  in  1859,  when  an 
Amerieau  commander  came  to  its  relief,  with  tlie  remark,  whicli  has  be- 
come historic, '  Blood  is  tliicker  tlian  water  J'  In  the  following  year  the 
English  returned,  and  had  better  success;  they  captured  the  forts  and 
entered  the  river  in  spite  of  all  that  the  Chinese  could  do  to  stop  them. 
Do  you  see  that  low  bank  there,  in  front  of  a  mud-wall  to  the  left  of  the 
fort?" 

"  Certainly,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Well,  that  is  the  place  where  the  sailors  landed  from  the  small  boats 
for  the  purpose  of  storming  the  forts,  while  the  gun-boats  were  shelling 
them  farther  up  the  river." 

"  But  it  looks  from  here  as  if  there  were  a  long  stretch  of  mud,"  Fred 
remarked. 

"  You  are  right,"  the  Doctor  responded,  "  there  is  a  long  stretch  of 
mud,  and  it  was  that  mud  which  partly  led  to  the  failure  at  the  time  of 
the  first  attack.  The  storming  force  was  compelled  to  wade  through  it, 
and  many  of  the  men  perished.  The  fire  of  the  Chinese  was  more  severe 
than  had  beeji  expected,  and  the  ships  of  the  fleet  were  badly  injured. 
But  when  the  attack  was  made  the  following  year,  the  muddy  belt  was 
much  narrower,  and  the  sailors  passed  through  it  very  quickly,  and 
were  at  the  walls  of  the  fort  before  the  Chinese  were  ready  for  them. 

"  The  navigation  is  ditticult  along  the  Pei-ho  River,  and  the  steainere 
of  the  attacking  fleet  found  the  passage  barred  by  cables  stretched  across 
the  stream.  They  had  considerable  trouble  to  break  through  these  ob- 
structions, but  they  finally  succeeded,  and  the  rest  of  the  voyage  to  Tien- 
tsin was  accomplished  far  more  easily  than  the  capture  of  the  forts." 

As  the  steamer  moved  on  against  the  muddy  current,  and  turned  in 
the  very  crooked  channel  of  the  Pei-ho,  Frank  espied  a  double-storied 
building  with  a  wide  veranda,  and  asked  what  it  was. 

He  was  interested  to  learn  that  it  was  known  as  the  Temple  of  the 
Sea-god,  and  had  been  at  one  time  the  residence  of  the  Chinese  command- 
er of  the  Taku  forts.  It  had  a  hands<^»me  front  on  the  river,  and  a  fleet  of 
junks  was  moored  directly  above  it.  Each  junk  appeared  to  be  staring 
witli  all  the  power  of  the  great  eyes  painted  on  its  bows,  and  some  of  the 
junks  more  distinguished  than  the  rest  were  equipped  with  two  eyes  on 
each  side,  in  order  that  they  might  see  better  than  the  ordinary  craft.  Flags 
floated  from  the  masts  of  all  the  junks,  and  in  nearly  every  instance  they 
were  attficbed  to  little  rods,  and  swung  from  the  centre.  A  Chinese  flag 
twists  and  turns  in  the  breeze  in  a  manner  quite  unknown  to  a  banner 
hung  after  the  ways  of  Europe  and  America. 


ASCENDING  THE  PEI-HO. 


355 


TEMPLE    OF    THE    SEA-GOD    AT    TAKC 


The  river  from  Taku  to  Tien-tsin  was  crowded  with  jnnks  and  small 
boats,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  tlie  empire  of  China  has  a  large  com- 
merce on  all  its  water-ways.  The  Grand  Canal  begins  at  Tien-tsin,  and  the 
city  stands  on  an  angle  formed  by  the  canal  and  the  Pei-ho  River.  It  is 
not  far  from  a  mile  square,  and  has  a  wall 
surrounding  it.  Each  of  tlie  four  Avails  has  a 
gate  in  the  centre,  and  a  wide  street  leads 
from  this  gate  to  the  middle  of  the  city,  where 
there  is  a  pagoda.  The  streets  are  wider  than 
in  most  of  the  Chinese  cities,  and  there  is 
less  danger  of  being  knocked  down  by  the 
pole  of  a  sedan-chair,  or  of  a  coolie  bearing  a 
load  of  merchandise.  In  spite  of  its  great 
commercial  activity,  the  city  does  not  appear 
very  prosperous.  Beggars  are  numerous,  and 
wherever  our  friends  went  they  were  con- 
stantly importuned  by  men  and  women,  who 
appeared  to  be  in  the  severest  want. 

The  usual  way  of  going  to  Pekin  is  by  the 
road  from  Tien-tsin,  while  the  return  journe}'^ 
is  by  boat  along  the  river.     The  road  is  about 


A    CHINESE    BEGGAR. 


356 


TFIE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


THE  ROAD  TO  PEKIN.  357 

ninety  miles  long,  and  is  one  of  the  worst  in  the  world,  when  we  consider 
how  long  it  has  been  in  use.  According  to  Chinese  history,  it  was  built 
about  two  thousand  years  ago.  Frank  said  he  could  readily  believe  that  it 
was  at  least  two  thousand  years  old,  and  Fred  thought  it  had  never  been 
repaired  since  it  was  first  opened  to  the  public.  It  was  paved  with  large 
stones  for  a  good  portion  of  the  way,  and  these  stones  have  been  worn 
into  deep  ruts,  so  that  the  track  is  anything  but  agreeable  for  a  carriage. 
The  only  wheeled  vehicles  in  this  part  of  China  are  carts  without  springs, 
and  mounted  on  a  single  axle ;  the  body  rests  directly  on  the  axle,  so  that 
every  jolt  is  conveyed  to  the  person  inside,  and  he  feels  after  a  day's 
journey  very  much  as  though  he  had  been  run  through  a  winnowing- 
machine. 

The  Chinese  cart  is  too  short  for  an  average-sized  person  to  lie  in  at 
full  length,  and  too  low  to  allow  him  to  sit  erect ;  it  has  a  small  window 
on  each  side,  so  placed  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  look  out  and  see 
what  there  is  along  the  route.  Altogether  it  is  a  most  uncomfortable 
vehicle  to  travel  in,  and  the  boys  thought  they  would  go  on  foot  rather 
than  ride  in  one  of  them. 

But  it  was  not  necessary  to  go  on  foot,  as  they  were  able  to  hire  ponies 
for  the  journey,  and  it  was  agreed  all  round  that  a  little  roughness  on 
horseback  for  a  couple  of  days  would  do  no  harm.  So  they  made  a  con- 
tract with  a  Chinese,  who  had  been  recommended  to  them  by  the  consul 
as  a  good  man,  to  carry  them  to  Pekin.  It  was  arranged  that  they  should 
take  an  early  start,  so  as  to  reach  a  village  a  little  more  than  half  way  by 
nightfall,  and  they  retired  early  in  order  to  have  a  good  night's  sleep. 
They  had  time  for  a  little  stroll  before  they  went  to  bed,  and  so  they  em- 
ployed it  in  visiting  the  "  Temple  of  the  Oceanic  Influences,"  where  the 
treaty  of  Tien-tsin  was  signed  after  the  capture  of  the  Taku  forts  and  the 
advance  of  the  English  to  the  city.  The  temple  is  on  a  plain  outside  of 
the  walls,  and  contains  a  large  hall,  which  was  very  convenient  for  the  im- 
portant ceremonial  that  took  place  there.  At  the  time  the  treaty  was 
signed  the  British  officers  were  in  full  uniform,  and  made  a  fine  appear- 
ance, while  the  Chinese  were  not  a  whit  behind  them  in  gorgeousness  of 
apparel.  Contrary  to  their  usual  custom,  the  Chinese  did  not  think  it 
necessary  to  hang  up  any  elaborate  decorations  in  the  hall,  and  the  atten- 
tion of  the  spectators  was  concentrated  on  the  dignitaries  who  managed 
the  affair. 

There  is  another  way  of  travelling  in  China,  which  is  by  means  of  a 
mule  litter.  This  is  a  sort  of  sedan-chair  carried  by  mules  instead  of 
men  ;  one  mule  walks  in  front,  and  another  in  the  rear,  and  the  litter  is 


358  '1'"^   ^<>Y   TllAVELLEliS. 

supported  between  them  on  a  couple  of  long  shafts.  The  pace  is  slow,  be- 
iiii;  always  at  a  walk^  except  at  the  times  when  the  mules  run  away  and 
smash  things  generally,  as  happens  not  unfrequently.  The  straps  that 
hold  the  shafts  to  the  saddles  of  the  mules  have  a  way  of  getting  loose, 
and  leaving  the  box  to  fall  to  the  ground  with  a  heavy  thud,  which  inter- 
feres materially  with  the  comfort  of  the  occupant.  For  invalids  and  la- 
dies the  mule  litter  is  to  be  recommended,  as  well  as  for  persons  who  are 
fond  of  having  the  greatest  amount  of  conifort ;  but  our  young  friends 
disdained  anything  so  effeminate,  and  determined  to  make  the  journey  on 
horseback. 

They  took  as  little  baggage  as  possible,  leaving  everything  superfluous 
at  Tien-tsin ;  six  horses  were  sufficient  for  all  the  wants  of  the  party — 
four  for  themselves  and  the  guide,  and  two  for  the  baggage.  It  was  nec- 
essary to  carry  the  most  of  the  provisions  needed  for  the  journey  to 
Pekin,  as  the  Chinese  hotels  along  the  route  could  not  be  relied  on  with 
any  certainty.  No  rain  had  fallen  for  some  time,  and  the  way  was  very 
dusty  ;  but  this-  circumstance  only  made  it  more  amusing  to  the  boys, 
though  it  was  not  so  pleasing  to  the  Doctor.  Before  they  had  been  an 
hour  on  the  road,  it  was  not  easy  to  say  which  was  Fred  and  which  Frank, 
until  they  had  rendered  themselves  recognizable  by  washing  their  faces. 
Water  was  scarce,  and  not  particularly  good,  and,  besides,  the  operation  of 
washing  the  face  was  an  affair  of  much  inconvenience.  So  they  contented 
themselves  with  the  dust,  and  concluded  that  for  the  present  they  wouldn't 
be  particular  about  names  or  identity. 

At  noon  they  had  gone  twenty-five  miles  through  a  country  which 
abounded  in  villages  and  gardens,  and  had  a  great  many  fields  of  wheat, 
millet,  cotton,  and  other  products  of  China;  the  fields  were  not  unlike 
those  they  had  seen  on  their  voyage  up  the  Yang-tse  ;  and  as  for  the 
villages,  they  were  exactly  alike,  especially  in  the  items  of  dirt  and  gener- 
al repnlsiveness.  The  modes  of  performing  field  labor  were  more  inter- 
esting than  the  villages :  the  most  of  the  fields  were  watered  artificiall}', 
and  the  process  of  pumping  water  attracted  the  attention  of  the  boys. 
An  endless  chain,  with  floats  on  it,  was  propelled  through  an  inclined  box 
by  a  couple  of  men  who  kept  up  a  steady  walk  on  a  sort  of  treadmill. 
There  were  spokes  in  a  horizontal  shaft,  and  on  the  ends  of  the  spokes 
there  were  little  pieces  of  board,  with  just  sufficient  space  for  a  man's 
foot  to  rest.  The  men  walked  on  these  spokes,  and  steadied  themselves 
on  a  horizontal  pole  which  was  held  between  a  couple  of  upright  posts. 
Labor  is  so  cheap  in  China  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  employing  steam 
or  wind  machinery  ;  it  was  said  that  a  pump  coolie  was  able  to  earn  from 


IN   A   CHINESE   TAVERN. 


359 


BODE    OF    rBRIGLAXING    FIELDS. 


five  to  ten  cents  a  day  in  the  season  M'lien  tke  fields  needed  irrigation, 
and  he  had  nothing  to  do  at  other  times. 

The  night  was  passed  at  a  village  where  there  was  a  Chinese  tavern, 
but  it  was  so  full  that  the  party  were  sent  to  a  temple  to  sleep.  Beds 
were  made  on  the  floor,  and  the  travellers  managed  to^  get  along  very  well, 
in  spite  of  the  fleas  that  supped  and  breakfasted  on  their  bodies,  and  would 
have  been  pleased  to  dine  there.  The  boys  were  in  a  corner  of  the  tem- 
ple under  the  shadow  of  one  of  the  idols  to  whom  the  place  belonged, 
while  the  Doctor  had  his  couch  in  front  of  a  canopy  where  there  was  a 
deity  that  watched  over  him  all  night  with  uplifted  hands.  Two  smaller 
idols,  one  near  his  head  and  the  other  at  his  feet,  kept  company  with  the 
larger  one ;  but  whether  they  took  turns  in  staying  awake,  the  Doctor  was 
too  sleepy  to  inquire. 

They  were  up  very  early  in  the  morning,  and^  off  at  daylight,  somewhat 
to  the  reluctance  of  the  guide,  who  had  counted  on  sleeping  a  little  longer. 
The  scenes  along  the  road  were  much  like  those  of  the  day  before,  and 
they  were  glad  when,  just  at  nightfall,  the  guide  pointed  to  a  high  wall  in 
front  of  them,  and  pronounced  the  word  "Pekin."  They  were  in  sight 
of  the  city. 

"  I'm  disappointed,"  said  Fred.  "  Pekin  isn't  what  I  thought  it 
was." 


360 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


THE    DOCTORS    BEDROOM. 


"  Well,  what  did  you  expect  to  find  ?"  queried  Frank, 

"  Why,  I  thouglit  it  was  on  a  hill,  or  sotnething  of  the  sort ;  I  had  no 
reason  to  think  so,  of  course,  but  I  had  formed  that  picture  of  it." 

"  Nearly  every  one  who  comes  to  Pekin  is  thus  disappointed,"  said 
Doctor  Bronson ;  "  he  expects  to  see  the  city  from  a  distance,  while,  in  re- 
ality, it  is  not  visible  till  you  are  quite  close  to  it." 

The  walls  were  high,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  inside  of  them, 
as  none  of  the  buildings  in  that  quarter  were  equally  lofty.  But  the  ef- 
fect of  the  walls  was  imposing;  there  were  towers  at  regular  intervals, 
and  the  most  of  them  were  two  stories  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
structure.  For  nearly  a  mile  they  rode  along  the  base  of. one  of  the  walls 
till  they  came  to  a  gate  that  led  them  into  the  principal  street.  Once  in- 
side, they  found  themselves  transferred  very  suddenly  from  the  stillness  of 
Ihe  country  to  the  bustling  life  of  the  great  city. 

"  I'm  not  disappointed  now,"  Fred  remarked,  as  they  rode  along  in  the 
direction  indicated  by  the  guide ;  "  the  streets  are  so  wide  in  comparison 
with  those  of  the  cities  we  have  seen  that  they  seem  very  grand,  in- 
deed." 

"You've  hit  it  exactly,  Fred,"  Doctor  Bronson  replied,  "Pekin  is  called 
the '  City  of  Magnificent  Distances '  on  account  of  the  width  of  its  streets. 


FIRST  DAY   IN  PEKIN. 


361 


1     illi;    WALL    OF    PJiKlN. 


the  great  extent  of  the  eitj,  and  the  long  walks  or  rides  that  are  necessary 
for  going  about  in  it." 

"  Evidently  they  took  plenty  of  room  when  they  laid  it  out,"  said 
Frank,  "  for  it  isn't  crowded  like  Shanghai  and  the  other  places  we  have 
seen." 

It  was  dark  when  they  reached  the  little  hotel  where  they  were  to 
stay.  It  was  kept  by  a  German,  who  thought  Pekin  was  an  excellent 
place  for  a  hotel,  but  would  be  better  if  more  strangers  would  visit  the 
city.  His  establishment  was  not  large,  and  its  facilities  were  not  great, 
but  they  were  quite  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  our  friends,  who  were  too 
tired  to  be  particular  about  trifles.  They  took  a  hearty  supper,  and  then 
went  to  bed  to  sleep  away  the  fatigues  of  their  journey. 

Next  morning  they  were  not  very  early  risers,  and  the  whole  trio  were 
weary  and  sore  from  the  effect  of  the  ride  of  ninety  miles  on  the  backs 
of  Chinese  ponies.  Frank  said  that'  when  he  was  sitting  down  he 
hesitated  to  rise  for  fear  he  should  break  in  two,  and  Fred  asserted 
that  it  was  dangerous  to  go  from  a  standing  to  a  sitting  position  for  the 
same  reason. 

They  determined  to  take  things  easily  for  the  first  day  of  their  stay  in 
Pekin,  and  confine  their  studies  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  hotel.  With 
this  object  in  view,  they  took  short  walks  on  the  streets,  and  in  the  after- 
noon ventured  on  a  ride  in  a  small  cart ;  or,  rather,  they  hired  two  carts, 
as  one  was  not  sufficient  to  hold  tliem.  These  carts  are  very  abundant  at 
Pekin,  and  are  to  be  hired  like  cabs  in  European  or  American  cities.  They 
are  not  dear,  being  only  sixty  or  seventy  cents  a  day,  and  they  are  so  abun- 
dant that  one  can  generally  find  them  at  the  principal  public  places. 

The  carts,  or  cabs,  are  quite  light  in  construction,  and  in  summer  they 
have  shelters  over  the  horses  to  protect  them  from  the  heat  of  the  sun. 


362 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLKRS. 


A    FEKIN   CAU. 


Tlie  driver  walks  at  the  side  of  his  team  ;  and  when  the  pace  of  the  horse 
quickens  to  a  run,  he  runs  with  it.    No  matter  how  rapidly  the  horse  may 

go,  the  man  does  not 
seem  troubled  to  keep 
alongside.  The  carts 
take  the  place  of  se- 
dan -  chairs,  of  which 
very  few  are  to  be 
seen  in  Pekin. 

Another  kind  of 
cart  which  is  used  in 
the  Korth  to  carry 
merchandise,  and  also 
for  passengers,  is  much 
stronger  than  the  cab, 
but,  like  it,  is  mounted 
on  two  wheels.  The 
frame  is  of  wood,  and  there  is  generally  a  cover  of  matting  to  keep  off 
the  heat  of  the  sun.  This  cover  is  supported  on  posts  that  rise  from 
the  sides  of  the  cart ;  but  while  useful  against  the  sun,  it  is  of  no  conse- 
sequence  in  a  storm,  owing  to  its  facility  for  letting  the  water  run 
through.  The  teams  for  propelling  these  carts  are  more  curious  than 
the  vehicles  themselves,  as  they  are  indifferently  made  up  of  what- 
ever animals  are  at  hand.  Oxen,  cows,  horses,  mules,  donkeys,  and 
sometimes  goats  and  dogs,  are  the  beasts  of  burden  that  were  seen  by  the 
boys  in  their  rambles  in  Pekin  and  its  vicinity,  and  on  one  occasion  Fred 
saw  a  team  which  contained  a  camel  harnessed  with  a  mule  and  a  cow. 
Camels  come  to  Pekin  from  the  Desert  of  Gobi,  where  great  numbers  of 
them  are  used  in  the  overland  trade  between  China  and  Russia.  They  are 
quite  similar  to  the  Arabian  camel,  but  are  smaller,  and  their  hair  is 
thicker,  to  enable  them  to  endure  the  severe  cold  of  the  northern  winter. 
In  the  season  when  tea  is  ready  for  export,  thousands  of  camels  are  em- 
ployed in  transporting  the  fragrant  herb  to  the  Russian  frontier,  and  the 
roads  to  the  northward  from  Pekin  are  blocked  with  thenu 

Walking  was  not  altogether  a  pleasant  amusement  for  our  friends,  as 
the  streets  were  a  mass  of  dust,  owing  to  the  carelessness  of  the  authorities 
about  allowing  the  refuse  to  accumulate  in  them.  There  is  a  tradition 
that  one  of  the  emperors,  in  a  period  that  is  lost  in  the  mazes  of  antiquit}', 
attempted  to  sweep  the  streets  in  order  to  make  himself  popular  with  the 
people ;  but  he  found  the  task  too  large,  and,  moreover,  he  had  serious 


SCENE  IN  NORTHERN  CHINA. 


363 


doubts  about  its  being  accomplished  in  his  lifetime.  So  he  gave  it  up,  as 
he  did  not  care  to  do  something  that  would  go  more  to  the  credit  of  his 
successor  than  of  himself,  and  no  one  has  had  the  courage  to  try  it  since 
that  time.     The  amount  of  dirt  that  accumulates  in  a  Chinese  city  would 


364 


THE    BOY    TRAVELLERS. 


breed  a  pestilence  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  Not  only  do  the  Chinese 
appear  uninjured  by  it,  but  there  are  some  who  assert  that  it  is  a  necessity 
of  their  existence,  and  they  would  lose  their  health  if  compelled  to  live  in 
an  atmosphere  of  cleanliness. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  street  sights  of  their  Urst  day  in  Pekin 
was  a  procession  carrying  a  dragon  made  of  bamboo  covered  with  painted 
paper.  There  was  a  great  noise  of  tom-toms  and  drums  to  give  warning 
of  the  approach  of  the  procession,  and  there  was  the  usual  rabble  of  small 
boys  that  precedes  similar  festivities  everywhere.  The  dragon  was  carried 
by  five  men,  who  held  him  aloft  on  sticks  that  also  served  to  give  his  body 
an  undulating  motion  in  imitation  of  life.  lie  was  not  pretty  to  look 
upon,  and  his  head  seemed  too  large  for  his  body.  The  Chinese  idea  of 
tlie  dragon  is,  that  he  is  something  very  hideous,  and  they  certainly  suc- 
ceed in  representing  their  conception  of  him.  Dr.  Bronson  explained 
that  the  dragon  was  frequently  carried  in  procession  at  night,  and  on  these 
occasions  the  hollow  body  was  illuminated,  so  that  it  was  more  hideous,  if 
possible,  than  in  the  daytime. 


A    CHINESE    UUAUUN. 


GENERAL  APPEARANCE  OF  PEKIN.  365 


CHAPTER  XXYII. 

SIGHTS  IN  PEKIN. 

FROM  their  own  observations  and  the  notes  and  accounts  of  travellers 
who  had  preceded  them,  the  boys  made  the  following  description  of 
Pekin : 

''  Pekin  stands  on  a  great  sandy  plain,  and  has  a  population  of  about 
two  millions.  It  consists  of  two  parts,  which  are  separated  by  a  wall ;  that 
towards  the  south  is  called  the  Chinese  city,  and  that  on  the  north  the 
Tartar  city.  The  Tartar  city  is  the  smaller  both  in  area  and  population  ; 
it  is  said  to  measure  about  twelve  square  miles,  while  the  Chinese  city 
measures  fifteen.  There  are  thirteen  gates  in  the  outer  walls,  and  there 
are  three  gates  between  the  Tartar  and  the  Chinese  city.  In  front  of  each 
gate  there  is  a  sort  of  bastion  or  screen,  so  that  you  cannot  see  the  en- 
trance at  all  as  you  approach  it,  and  are  obliged  to  turn  to  one  side  to 
come  in  or  go  out.  The  Chinese  city  has  few  public  buildings  of  impor- 
tance, while  the  Tartar  city  has  a  great  many  of  them.  The  latter  city  con- 
sists of  three  enclosures,  one  inside  the  other,  and  each  enclosure  has  a 
wall  of  its  own.  The  outer  one  contains  dwellings  and  shops,  the  second 
includes  the  government  offices,  and  the  houses  of  private  persons  who 
are  allowed  to  live  there  as  a  mark  of  special  favor;  while  the  third  is 
called  the  Prohibited  City,  and  is  devoted  to  the  imperial  palace  and 
temples  that  belong  to  it.  Xobody  can  go  inside  the  Prohibited  City 
without  special  permission,  and  sometimes  this  is  very  hard  to  obtain ;  the 
wall  enclosing  it  is  nearl}'  two  miles  in  circumference,  and  has  a  gate  in 
each  of  its  four  fronts,  and  the  wall  is  as  solid  and  high  as  the  one  that 
surrounds  the  whole  city  of  Pekin. 

"  We  had  no  trouble  in  going  to  see  the  imperial  palace,  or  such  parts 
of  it  as  are  open  to  the  public,  and  also  the  temples.  We  could  readily  be- 
lieve what  was  told  us — that  the  temples  were  the  finest  in  the  whole 
country,  and  certainly  some  of  them  were  very  interesting.  There  are 
temples  to  the  earth,  to  the  sun,  the  moon ;  and  there  are  temples  to  agri- 
culture, to  commerce,  and  a  great  many  other  things.     There  is  a  very 


366 


THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


fine  structure  of  marble  more  than  a  hundred  feet  high,  whicli  is  called 
"The  Gate  of  Extensive  Peace."  It  is  where  the  emperor  comes  on  great 
public  occasions ;  and  beyond  it  are  two  halls  where  the  foreign  visitors 
are  received  at  the  beginning  of  each  year,  and  where  the  emperor  ex- 
amines the  implements  used  in  the  opening  of  the  annual  season  of 
ploughing.  The  ploughing  ceremony  does  not  take  place  liere,  but  in 
another  part  of  the  city,  and  the  emperor  himself  holds  the  plough  to 
turn  the  firet  furrow.  There  are  some  very  pretty  gardens  in  the  Pro- 
hibited City,  and  we  had  a  tine  opportunity  to  learn  something  about  the 
skill  of  the  Chinese  iu  landscape  gardening.  There  are  canals,  fountains, 
bridges,  flower-beds,  groves,  and  little  hillocks,  all  carefully  tended,  and 
forming  a  very  pretty  picture  iu  connection  with  the  temples  and  pavil- 
ions that  stand  among  them. 


A   I'AVIUON   IN    THE   PKOUIBITEU    CITV. 


"We  have  seen  many  temples — so  many,  in  fact, that  it  is  difficult  to 
remember  all  of  them.  One  of  tiie  most  impressive  is  the  Temple  of 
Heaven,  which  has  three  circular  roofs,  one  above  another,  and  is  said  to 
be  ninety-nine  feet  high.  The  tiles  on  the  top  are  of  porcelain  of  the  color 
of  a  clear  sky,  and  the  intention  of  the  builder  was  to  imitate  the  vault  of 
heaven.  On  the  inside  there  are  altars  where  sacrifices  are  offered  to  the 
memory  of  former  emperors  of  China,  and  on  certain  occasions  the  em- 
peror comes  here  to  take  part  in  the  ceremonies. 

"  Tlien  we  went  to  see  the  great  bell,  which  is  one  of  the  wonders  of 
the  world,  though  it  is  not  so  large  as  the  bell  at  Moscow.     It  is  said  to 


TEMPLE  OF  CONFUCIUS. 


367 


weigh  112,000  pounds,  but  how 
they  ever  weighed  it  I  don't 
know.  It  is  a  foot  thick  at  the 
rim,  about  twenty  feet  high,  and 
fifteen  feet  in  diameter ;  it  was 
cast  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago,  and  is  covered  all 
over,  inside  and  outside,  with 
Chinese  characters.  There  is  a 
little  hole  in  the  top  of  it  where 
people  try  to  tlirow  copper  cash. 
If  they  succeed,  it  is  a  sign  that 
they  will  be  fortunate  in  life ; 
and  if  they  fail,  they  must  leave 
the  money  as  an  offering  to  the 
temple.  All  of  us  tried  till  we 
had  thrown  away  a  double-hand- 


TBMPLE    OF    HEAVKN. 


So 


fnl  of  cash,  but  we  didn't  get  a  single  one  of  them  through  the  hole 
if  we  fail  now  iu  anything,  you  will  know  the  reason. 

"  The  Chinese  have  a  great  many  gods,  and  pretty  nearly  every  god 

has  a  temple  in  some  part 
of  Pekin.  There  is  a  fine 
temple  to  Confucius,  which 
is  surrounded  by  some  trees 
that  are  said  to  be  five 
hundred  years  old ;  the  tem- 
ple has  a  high  roof  which 
is  very  elaborately  carved, 
and  looks  pretty  both  from 
a  distance  and  when  you 
are  close  by  it.  But  there  are  no  statues  in  the  temple,  as  the  Chinese 
do  not  worship  Confucius  through  a  statue,  but  by  means  of  a  tablet  on 
which  his  name  is  inscribed.  .  The  other,  deities  have  their  statues,  and 
you  may  see  the  god  of  war  with  a  long  beard  and  mustache.  The  Chi- 
nese have  very  slight  beards,  and  it  is  perhaps  for  this  reason  that  they 
frequently  represent  their  divinities  as  having  a  great  deal  of  hair  on  their 
faces,  so  as  to  indicate  their  superiority  to  mortals.  Then  they  have  a  god 
of  literature,  who  is  represented  standing  on  the  head  of  a  large  fish,  and 
waving  a  pencil  in  his  right  hand,  while  he  holds  in  his  left  a  cap  such  as 
is  worn  by  the  literary  graduates  after  they  have  received  their  degrees. 


PEKIN    CASH. 


368 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLEUS. 


TRADITIONAL    LIKENESS    OF    CONFUCIUS. 


GOD   OF    WAK. 


The  god  of  literature  is  worshipped  a  great  deal  by  everybody  who  is 
studying  for  a  degree,  and  by  those  whose  ancestors  or  other  relatives 
liave  been  successful  in  carrying  away  the  honors  at  an  examination. 
Think  what  it  would  be  to  have  such  a  divinity  in  our  colleges  and  schools 


^^^^ 


OOD  OF   LITEBATURK. 


GOU   OF  THIEVES. 


THE  BOARD  OF  PUNISHMENTS. 


369 


in  America,  and  tlie  amount  of  worsliip  he  would  get  if  the  students 
really  believed  in  him  ! 

"  The  Chinese  have  a  god  of  thieves ;  but  he  has  no  temple,  and  is 
generally  worshipped  in  the  open  air.  All  the  thieves  are  supposed  to 
worship  him,  as  he  is  a  saint  who  made  their  business  successful ;  and,  be- 
sides this,  he  is  worshipjjed  by  those  who  wish  to  become  wealthy  in  hon- 
est ways.  He  is  said  to  havte  been  a  skilful  thief,  and  very  pious  at  the 
same  time.  He  was  kind  to  his  mother,  and  the  most  of  his  stealing  was 
done  to  support  her. 

"  One  of  the  interesting  places  we  have  visited  is  the  oflBce  of  the 
Board  of  Punishments,  which  corresponds  pretty  nearly  to  our  courts  of 
justice.  But  one  great  point  of  difference  between  their  mode  of  admin- 
istering justice  and  ours  is  that  they  employ  torture,  while  we  do  not. 
Xot  only  is  the  prisoner  tortured  after  condemnation,  but  he  is  tortured 
before  trial,  in  order  to  make  him  tell  the  truth ;  and  even  the  witnesses, 
under  certain  circumstances,  are  submitted  to  the  same  treatment.  We 
saw  some  of  the  instruments  that  they  use,  and  there  was  not  the  least  at- 
tempt to  keep  us  from  seeing  them.  It  is  customary  to  have  them  piled 
or  hung  up  at  the  doors  of  the  courts,  so  that  culprits  may  know  what  to 
expect,  and  honest  persons  may 
be  deterred  from  wickedness 
through  fear.  It  is  the  same 
principle  that  is  followed  by 
some  of  the  school-teachers  in 
America  when  they  hang  up  in 
full  view  the  stick  with  which 
they  intend  to  punish  unruly 
boys. 

"  When  we  went  into  the 
court-room,  a  man  had  just  been 
sentenced  to  receive  twenty 
blows  of  the  bamboo,  and  the 
sentence  was  immediately  car- 
ried out.  He  was  ordered  to  lie 
down  with  his  face  to  the  floor ; 
his  back  was  then  stripped,  and 
while  his  legs  and  arms  were 
held  by  attendants,  the  execu- 
tioner laid  on  the  twenty  blows 
with  a  bamboo  stick  about  six 


A    MANDARIN    JUDGE    DELITERIXG    SENTENCE. 


24: 


370  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

feet  long  and  two  inches  wide.  One  side  of  the  stick  was  rounded  and 
the  other  was  flat ;  the  flesh  was  blistered  at  every  stroke,  or  raised  in  a 
great  puff,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  man  must  be  some  time  in  getting 
■well.  lie  did  not  scream  or  make  the  least  outcry,  but  took  his  punish- 
ment patiently,  and  was  raised  to  his  feet  at  its  end.  He  bowed  to  the 
judge,  and,  perhaps,  thanked  him  for  the  attention  he  had  received,  and 
was  then  led  away  to  make  room  for  some  one  else. 

"  The  Chinese  don't  seem  to  have  any  nerves  compared  with  what  we 
have.  They  do  not  suffer  so  much  as  we  do  under  tortures,  and  this  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  reasons  why  they  are  so  much  more  cruel  than  the 
people  of  Europe  and  America.  For  example,  it  would  nearly  kill  a  Euro- 
pean to  travel  a  week  in  carts  such  as  we  saw  on  the  road  from  Tien- 
tsin to  Pekin.  The  Chinese  don't  seem  to  mind  it  at  all ;  and  the  best 
proof  that  they  do  not  is  that  they  have  never  invented  any  better  or 
more  comfortable  way  of  travelling,  or  tried  to  improve  their  roads.  And 
it  is  the  same  with  their  punishments  in  the  courts.  They  don't  care 
much  for  whippings,  though  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  they  like  them, 
and  the  only  things  that  they  appear  to  fear  very  much  are  the  punish- 
ments that  are  prolonged.  There  are  a  good  many  of  these,  and  I  will 
tell  you  about  some  of  the  most  prominent  and  best  known. 

"  Several  times  we  have  seen  men  with  wooden  collars  three  or  four 
feet  square,  and  with  a  hole  in  the  centre,  where  the  poor  fellow's  neck 
comes  through.  It  is  made  of  plank  about  two  inches  thick,  and  you  can 
see  that  the  load  is  a  heavy  one  for  a  man  to  carry.  lie  cannot  bring  his 
arms  to  his  head ;  and  if  he  has  no  friends  to  feed  hira,  or  no  money  to 
pay  some  one  else  to  do  so,  he  must  starve.  On  the  upper  surface  of  the 
plank  is  painted  the  name  of  the  criminal,  together  with  the  crime  he  has 
committed  and  the  time  he  has  been  ordered  to  wear  the  collar.  This  in- 
strument is  called  a  '  cangue,'  and  is  said  to  be  in  use  all  over  China  from 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other. 

"  There  is  a  mode  of  torture  which  is  chiefly  used  to  extort  confessions 
from  persons  accused  hi  crime,  and  the  result  of  its  use  is  said  to  be  that 
many  a  man  has  been  induced  to  confess  crimes  of  which  he  was  entirely 
innocent,  in  order  to  escape  from  the  terrible  pain  which  is  produced. 
The  victim  is  compelled  to  stand  against  a  post,  and  his  cue  is  tied  to  it 
so  that  he  cannot  get  away.  His  arms  are  tied  to  a  cross-beam,  and  then 
little  rods  are  placed  between  his  fingers  in  such  a  way  that  every  finger 
is  enclosed.  The  rods  are  so  arranged  that  by  pulling  a  string  the  press- 
ure on  the  fingers  is  increased,  and  the  pain  very  soon  becomes  so  great 
.that  most  men  are  unable  to  endure  it.    If  you  want  to  know  just  how  a 


MODES  OF  TORTURE. 


371 


SQUEEZING   THE    FINGERS. 


little  of  it  feels,  I  advise  you 
to  put  one  of  your  fingers  be- 
tween two  lead  -  pencils  and 
then  squeeze  the  pencils  to- 
gether. You  won't  keep  do- 
ing 80  very  long. 

"  They  squeeze  the  ankles 
in  much  the  same  way,  by 
making  the  man  kneel  on 
the  ground,  with  his  ankles 
in  a  frame  of  three  sticks 
that  are  fastened  together  at 
one  end  by  a  cord  like  that 
of  the  finger-squeezer.  Then, 
when  all  is  ready,  they  pull 
at  the  cord  and  draw  the 
sticks  nearer  to  each  other, 
so  that  pressure  is  brought 

on  the  ankles.  The  pain  is  intense,  and  the  most  demure  Chinaman  is 
not  able  to  stand  it  without  shrinking.  This  mode  of  torture,  like  the 
other,  is  used  to  make  prisoners  confess  the  crimes  of  which  they  are  ac- 
cused, and  they  generally  confess  them.  It  is  said  that  witnesses  may  be 
subjected  to  the  ankle  torture,  but  with  the  modification  in  their  favor 
that  only  one  ankle  can  be  squeezed  at  a  time.     Very  kind,  isn't  it  ? 

"  We  went  near  the  prison  while  we  were  in  the  Tartar  city,  and  so  it 
was  proposed  that  we  should  see  what  there  was  inside.     It  was  the  most 

horrible  place  I  have  ever  seen,  and 
the  wonder  is  that  men  can  be  found 
inhuman  enough  to  condemn  people 
to  be  shut  up  there.  There  was  a  large 
cage  so  full  of  men  that  there  was  not 
room  on  the  floor  for  them  all  to  lie 
down  at  once,  even  if  thej^  had  been 
as  close  together  as  sardines  in  a  can. 
We  could  see  through  the  bars  of  the 
cage,  as  if  the  captives  had  been  wild 
animals  instead  of  human  beings,  and 
they  looked  so  worn  and  wretched 
that  we  all  pitied  them  very  much. 
SQUEEZING  THE  ANKLES.  If  a  Hiau  is  scut  to  prlson  in  China, 


372 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


A    BED    OF   TORTURE. 


and  has  no  money  to  pay  for  his  food,  he  will  die  of  starvation,  as  the  jail- 
ers are  not  required  by  law  to  feed  the  prisoners  under  their  charge. 
There  were  men  chained,  with  iron  collai-s  around  their  necks ;  and  others 
tied,  with  their  hands  and  feet  brought  close  together.  The  suffering  was 
terrible,  and  we  were  glad  to  come  away  after  a  very  few  minutes.  It  is 
positive  that  we  do  not  want  to  see  another  prison  as  long  as  we  stay  in 
this  country. 

"In  the  Chinese  prisons  they  torture  men  to  make  them  confess,  and 
also  to  compel  them  to  tell  if  they  have  money,  or  any  relatives  or  friends 
who  have  it.  One  of  these  cruelties  is  called  'putting  a  man  to  bed,'  and 
consists  in  fastening  him  on  a  -wooden  bedstead  by  his  neck,  wrists,  and 

ankles  in  such  a  w^ay  that 
he  cannot  move.  lie  is 
compelled  to  pass  the 
night  in  this  position  ; 
and  sometimes  they  give 
him  a  coverlet  of  a  sin- 
gle board  that  presses  on 
his  body,  and  is  occasion- 
ally weighted  to  make  it 
more  oppressive.  The  next  morning  he  is  released  and  told  that  he  can 
be  free  until  night,  when  he  will  be  again  tied  up.  Generally  a  man  is 
willing  to  do  anything  in  his  power  rather  than  pass  a  second  night  on 
such  a  bed.  If  he  has  money,  he  gives  it  up ;  and,  no  matter  how  reluc- 
tant he  may  be  to  call  on  his  friends,  he  does  so,  sooner  or  later,  and  throws 
himself  on  their  generosity. 

"  They  suspend  men  by  the  wrists  and  ankles ;  sometimes  by  one  wrist 
and  one  ankle,  and  at  others  by  all  four  brought  closely  togethe'r.  Then 
they  place  a  victim  in  a  chair  with  his  arms  tied  to  cross-sticks,  and  in  this 
position  he  is  compelled  to  sit  for  hours  in  the  most  terrible  pain.  An- 
other mode  is  by  tying  a  man's  hands  together  beneath  his  knees,  and  then 
passing  a  pole  under  his  arm  and  suspending  him  from  it.  This  is  called 
'  the  monkey  grasping  a  peach,'  and  it  is  frequently  employed  to  compel  a 
rich  man  to  pay  heavily  to  escape  punishment.  How  it  got  its  name  no- 
body can  tell,  unless  it  was  owing  to  a  supposed  resemblance  to  the  posi- 
tion of  a  monkey  holding  something  in  his  paw. 

"Just  as  we  were  coming  out  of  the  prison-yard  we  saw  a  man  stand- 
ing in  a  cage  with  his  head  through  a  board  in  the  top,  while  his  toes  just 
touched  the  bottom.  Unless  he  stood  on  tiptoe,  the  weight  of  his  body 
fell  on  his  neck ;  and  everybody  knows  how  diflBcult  it  is  to  remain  on 


HOW  KOBBERS  ARE  PUNISHED. 


373 


FOUR   MODES   OF    PUNISHMENT. 


tiptoe  for  any  length  of  time.  Sometimes  men  are  compelled  to  stand  in 
this  way  till  they  die,  but  generally  the  punishment  is  confined  to  a  few 
hours.  It  is  the  form  most  frequently  employed  for  the  sentence  of  crim- 
inals who  have  been  robbing  on  the  public  highwa}',  and  are  convicted  of 
using  violence  at  the  time  of  committing  their  offences. 

"I  could  go  on  with  a  long  account  of  the  tortures  in  Cliina,  but  they 
are  not-  very  pleasant  reading,  and,  besides,  some  of  them  are  too  horrible 
for  belief.  I  will  stop  with  the  torture  known  as  'the  hot-water  snake,' 
which  consists  of  a  coil  of  thin  tubing  of  tin  or  pewter  in  the  form  of  a 
serpent.  One  of  these  coils  is  twisted  around  each  arm  of  the  victim,  and 
another  around  his  body,  in  such  a  way  that  the  head  of  the  snake  is 
higher  than  any  other  part.  Then  they  pour  boiling  water  into  the  mouth 
of  the  snake,  and  the  fiesh  of  the  prisoner  is  burned  and  scalded  in  the 
most  terrible  manner.    This  punishment  is  said  to  be  used  rarely,  and  only 


374 


THE    BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


on  persons  accused  of  crimes  against  the 
government.  It  is  too  liorrible  to  be  pop- 
ular, even  among  the  most  cold-blooded 
people  in  the  world. 

"A  good  many  of  these  punishments 
precede  a  much  more  merciful  one,  that 
of  decapitation.  The  victim  who  is  to  suf- 
fer the  loss  of  his  head  is  carried  to  the 
place  of  execution  in  a  small  cage  of  bam- 
boo, with  his  hands  tied  behind  liim,  and 
the  crime  for  which  he  is  to  suffer  written 
on  a  piece  of  stiff  paper  and  fastened  to 
his  hair.  In  one  corner  of  the  cage  is  a 
bucket,  which  is  to  hold  his  head  after  the 
executioner  has  cut  it  off ;  and  frequently 
the  pail  with  the  head  in  it  is  hung  near 
one  of  the  gates  of  the  city  or  in  some  other 
public  place.  When  he  reaches  the  execu- 
tion-ground, he  is  required  to  kneel,  and  the  executioner  strikes  his  head  off 
with  a  single  blow  of  a  heavy  sword.  The  poor  fellows  who  are  to  suffer 
death  rarely  make  any  opposition,  and  some  of  them  seem  quite  willing  to 
meet  it.  This  is  said  to  be  due  partly  to  the  calmness  of  the  Chinese,  and 
partly  to  the  fact  that  they  have  been  so  tortured  and  starved  in  their  im- 


8TAKDIM0    IN  A.  CAGE. 


prisonment  that  it  is  a  relief  to  die. 
men  condemned  to  death  are  usually 
kept  until  there  are  several  on  hand ; 
then  a  general  execution  is  ordered, 
and  the  whole  lot  of  them  are  taken 
out  to  the  place  of  decapitation. 
During  the  time  of  the  rebellion 
they  used  to  have  executions  by 
wholesale,  and  sometimes  one  or 
two  hundred  heads  were  taken  off 
in  a  single  morning. 

"  Very  great  crimes  are  punished 
by  cutting  the  body  into  small  pieces 
before  decapitation,  or,  rather,  »by 
cutting  it  in  several  places.  All  the 
Heshy  parts  of  the  body  are  cut  with 
the  sword  of  the  executioner  before 


In  most  of  the  Chinese  prisons  the 


A  CHINESE  EXECUTION. 


375 


CAKBYING   FORTH    TO   THE    PLACE    OF   EXECUTION. 

the  final  blow ;  and  sometimes  this  species  of  torture  goes  on  for  an  honr 
or  two  before  the  suffering  of  the  victim  is  stopped  by  decapitation. 
There  is  a  story  that  they  have  a  lottery  in  which  the  executioner  draws  a 
knife  from  a  basket.  The  basket  is  full  of  knives,  and  they  are  marked 
for  various  parts  of  the  bod}".  If  he  draws  a  knife  for  the  face,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  cut  off  the  cheeks  ;  if  for  tlie  hand,  he  cuts  away  one  of  the  hands, 
and  so  on  for  all  parts  of  the  victim.  If  he  is  kindly  disposed,  or  has  been 
properly  bribed,  he  will  draw  the  beheading-knife  first  of  all,  and  then  he 
will  have  no  occasion  to  use  any  other. 


«^ 


JUST   BEFORE    DECAPITATION. 


376 


THE   BOY    TRAVELLERS. 


"  Well,  M'e  have  had  enough  of  these  disagreeable  thitigs,  and  will  turn 
to  something  else.  We  passed  by  the  place  where  the  candidates  for  mil- 
itary honors  compete  for  prizes  by  shooting  with  the  bow  and  arrow.  At 
the  first  examination  they  are  required  to  shoot  at  a  mark  with  three  ar- 
rows, and  the  one  who  makes  the  best  shots  is  pronounced  the  winner  of 
the  prize.  At  the  second  examination  they  must  practise  on  horseback, 
with  the  horse  standing  still ;  and  at  the  third  they  must  shoot  three  ar- 
rows from  the  back  of  a  running  horse.  Afterwards  they  are  exercised  in 
the  bending  of  some  very  stiff  bows  and  the  handling  of  heavy  swords  and 
Atones.  There  is  a  certain  scale  of  merit  they  must  pass  to  be  successful ; 
and  when  they  succeed,  their  names  are  sent  up  for  another  examination 
before  higher  officials  than  the  ones  they  have  passed  before.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  a  man  who  does  well  as  an  archer  is  entitled  to  a  degree 
among  the  literary  graduates,  though  he  may  not  be  able  to  carry  away  a 
single  prize  for  his  literary  accomplishments  alone." 


MILITARY    CASDIDATB8    COMPETING    AVITU   THE    UUW    AND   AKUOW. 


CHINESE   HORSE-DEALERS.  377 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  JOURNEY   TO  THE   GREAT   WALL   OF   CHINA. 

PEKIX  is  not  very  far  from  the  famous  wall  that  was  built  to  keep 
the  empire  of  China  from  the  hands  of  the  Tartars.  It  is  commonly 
mentioned  as  "  The  Great  Wall,"  and  certainly  it  is  clearly  entitled  to  the 
honor,  as  it  is  the  greatest  wall  in  the  world.  To  go  to  Pekin  without 
visiting  the  Great  Wall  would  be  to  leave  the  journey  incomplete ;  and, 
therefore,  one  of  the  first  things  that  our  friends  considered  was  how  they 
should  reach  the  wall,  and  how  much  time  they  would  require  for  the 
excursion. 

We  sliall  let  the  boys  tell  the  story,  which  they  did  in  a  letter  to  their 
friends  at  home.  It  was  written  while  they  were  on  the  steamer  between 
Tien-tsin  and  Shanghai,  on  their  return  from  Pekin. 

"We  have  been  to  the  Great  Wall,  and  it  was  a  journey  not  to  be  for- 
gotten in  a  minute.  We  found  that  we  should  have  to  travel  a  hundred 
miles  eacli  way,  and  that  the  roads  were  as  bad  as  they  usually  are  in  most 
parts  of  China.  We  went  on  horseback,  but  took  a  mule  litter  along  for 
use  in  case  of  accidents,  and  to  rest  ourselves  in  whenever  one  of  us  should 
become  weary  of  too  much  saddle.  There  are  no  hotels  of  any  conse- 
quence, and  so  we  had  to  take  the  most  of  our  provisions  from  Pekin. 
We  did  the  same  way  as  when  we  went  from  Tien-tsin  ;  that  is,  we  hired 
a  man  to  supply  all  the  necessary  horses  and  mules  for  a  certain  price 
to  take  us  to  the  wall  and  back ;  and  if  any  of  them  should  fall  sick  on  the 
road,  he  was  to  furnish  fresh  ones  without  extra  charge.  We  were  ad- 
vised to  make  the  bargain  in  this  way,  as  there  was  a  danger  that  some  of 
the  horses  would  get  lame ;  and  if  there  were  no  provision  for  such  a  case, 
we  should  have  to  pay  very  higli  for  an  extra  animal.  The  Chinese  horse- 
owners  are  said  to  be  great  rascals — almost  equal  to  some  American  men 
who  make  a  business  of  buying  and  selling  saddle  and  carriage  animals. 
Doctor  Bronson  says  he  would  like  to  match  the  shrewdest  Chinese  jockey 
we  have  yet  seen  with  a  horse-dealer  that  he  once  knew  in  Washington.  He 
thinks  the  Yankee  could  give  the  Chinese  great  odds,  and  then  beat  him. 


378 


THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


"  It  was  a  feast-day  wlien  wc  left  Pekin,  and  there  were  a  good  many 
sports  going  on  in  the  streets,  as  we  filed  out  of  the  city  on  our  way  to  the 
north.  There  was  a  funny  procession  of  men  on  stilts.  They  were  fan- 
tastically dressed,  and  waved  fans  and  chopsticks  and  other  things,  while 
they  shouted  and  sang  to  amuse  the  crowd.  One  of  them  was  dressed  as 
a  woman,  who  pretended  to  hold  her  eyes  down  so  that  nobody  could  see 


CHLNESE  JUGGLERS. 


379 


tliem,  and  she  danced  around  on  her  stilts  as  though  she  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  theru  all  her  life.  In  fact,  the  whole  party  were  quite  at  home 
on  their  stilts,  and  would  have  been  an  attrac- 
tion  in  any  part  of  America.  Whenever  the 
Chinese  try  to  do  anything  of  this  sort,  they 
are  pretty  sure  to  do  it  well. 

"  Then  there  were  jugglers  spinning  plates 
on  sticks,  and  doing  other  things  of  a  char- 
acter more  or  less  marvellous.  One  of  their 
tricks  is  to  spin  the  plate  on  two  sticks  held 
at  right  angles  to  each  other,  instead  of  on  a 
single  stick, as  with  us;  but  how  they  manage 
to  do  it  I  am  unable  to  say.  They  make  the 
plate  whirl  very  fast,  and  can  keep  it  up  a 
long  time  without  any  apparent  fatigue. 

"  We  passed  several  men  who  had  small 
establishments  for  gambling,  not  unlike  some 
that  are  known  in  America.  There  was  one 
with  a  revolving  pointer  on  the  top  of  a 
horizontal  table  that  was  divided  into  sections 
with  different  marks  and  numbers.  The  point- 
er had  a  string,  hanging  down  from  one  end, 
and  the  way  they  made  the  machine  work 
was  to  whirl  the  pointer,  and  see  where  the  string  hung  when  it  stop- 
ped. The  game  appeared  to  be  very  fair,  as  the  man  who  paid  his 
money  had  the  chance  of  whirling  the  pointer,  and  he  might  do  his 

own  guessing  as  to  where  it  would 
stop.  If  he  was  right,  he  would  win 
eight  times  as  much  money  as  he 
had  wagered,  since  the  board  was  di- 
vided into  eight  spaces.  If  he  was 
wrong,  he  lost  all  that  he  put  down, 
and  was  obliged  to  go  away  or  try 
his  luck  again.  The  temptation  to 
natives  seems  to  be  very  great,  since 
they  are  constantly  gambling,  and 
sometimes  lose  all  the  money  they 
have.  Gambling  is  so  great  a  vice  in 
China  that  a  good  manj'^  of  its  forms 
GAMBLING  WITH  A  REVOLVING  POINTER.      liavc  bccu  forblddcu  by  tlic  govern- 


JUGGLER    SPINNING 


380 


THE    BOY  TRAVELLEIiS. 


ment.  The  case  is  not  unusual  of  a  man  losing  everything  lie  possesses, 
even  to  his  wife  and  children,  and  then  being  thrown  naked  into  the 
streets  by  the  proprietor  of  the  place  where  he  has  lost  his  money. 

"  We  stopped  to  look  at  some  fortune-tellers,  who  were  evidently  doing 
a  good  business,  as  they  had  crowds  around  them,  and  were  taking  in 

small  sums  of  money  every  few  minutes.  One 
of  them  had  a  little  bird  in  a  cage,  and  he 
had  a  table  which  he  folded  and  carried  on 
his  back  when  he  was  moving  from  one  place 
to  another.  When  he  opened  business,  he 
spread  his  table,  and  then  laid  out  some  slips 
of  paper  which  were  folded,  so  that  nobody 
could  see  what  there  was  inside.  Next  he  let 
the  bird  out  of  the  cage,  which  immediately 
went  forward  and  picked  up  one  of  the  slips 
and  carried  it  to  his  master.  The  man  then 
opened  the  paper  and  read  what  was  written 
on  it,  and  from  this  paper  he  made  a  predic- 
tion about  the  fortune  of  the  person  who  had 
engaged  him. 

"  There  was  another  fortune-teller  who 
did  his  work  by  writing  on  a  plate.  He  had 
several  sheets  of  paper  folded  up,  and  from 
these  he  asked  his  customer  to  select  one. 
When  the  selection  was  made,  he  dissected  the 
writing,  and  showed  its  meaning  to  be  something  so  profound  that  the  cus- 
tomer was  bewildered  and  thought  he  had  nothing  but  good-fortune  com- 
ing to  him.  We  tried  to  get  these  men  to  tell  our  fortunes,  but  they 
preferred  to  stick  to  their  own  countrymen,  probably  through  fear  that 
they  would  lose  popularity  if  they  showed  themselves  too  friendly  with 
the  strangers. 

"  The  Chinese  are  great  believers  in  fortune-telling,  and  even  the  most 
intelligent  of  them  are  often  calling  upon  the  necromancers  to  do  some- 
thing for  them.  They  rarely  undertake  any  business  without  first  ascer- 
taining if  the  signs  are  favorable ;  and  if  they  are  not,  they  will  decline  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  it.  When  a  merchant  has  a  cargo  of  goods  on 
its  way,  he  is  very  likely  to  ask  a  fortune-teller  how  the  thing  is  to  turn 
out;  and  if  the  latter  says  it  is  all  right,  he  gets  liberally  paid  for  his  in- 
formation. But  in  spite  of  their  superstition,  the  Chinese  are  very  shrewd 
merchants,  and  can  calculate  their  profits  with  great  accuracy. 


yORTCNE-TELLlXG    BY  UEAN8   OF  A 
BIRD   AND    SLIPS   OF    PAPER. 


DISCOMFORTS  OF  PONY-RIDING. 


381 


FORTUNE-TELLING    BY    DISSECTING    CHINESE    CHARACTERS. 


"  Well,  tliis  is  not  going  to  the  Great  "Wall.  We  went  out  of  Pekin  by 
the  north  gate,  and  into  a  country  that  was  flat  and  dusty.  Fred's  pony 
was  not  very  good-natured,  and  every  little  while  took  it  into  his  head  to 
balance  himself  on  the  tip  of  his  tail.  This  was  not  the  kind  of  riding  we 
had  bargained  for,  as  it  made  the  travel  rather  wearisome,  and  interfered 
with  the  progress  of  the  whole  caravan.  We  thought  the  pony  would  be- 
have himself  after  a  little  fatigue  had  cooled  his  temper ;  but  the  more  we 
went  on,  the  worse  he  became.  When  we  were  about  ten  miles  out,  he  ran 
away,  and  went  tearing  through  a  cotton-iield  as  though  he  owned  it,  and 
he  ended  by  pitching  his  rider  over  his  head  across  a  small  ditch. 

"  Then  we  found  how  lucky  it  was  we  had  brought  along  a  mule  litter, 
as  Fred  rode  in  it  the  rest  of  the  day.  Next  morning  he  made  our  guide 
change  ponies  with  him.  In  half  an  hour  the  guide  was  in  a  mud 
puddle,  and  saying  something  in  Chinese  that  had  a  very  bad  sound,  but 
it  didn't  help  dry  his  clothes  in  the  least.  On  the  whole,  we  got  along 
very  well  with  the  ponies  in  the  north  of  China,  when  we  remember  the 
bad  reputation  they  have  and  the  things  that  most  travellers  say  about 
them. 

"  We  stopped  at  the  village  of  Sha-ho,  about  twenty  miles  from  Pekin  ; 
and  as  we  had  started  a  little  late,  and  it  was  near  sunset,  we  concluded  to 
spend  the  night  there.     There  was  not  much  to  see  at  the  village,  except  a 


382 


THE   BOY    TRAVELLERS. 


couple  'of  fine  old  bridges  built  of  stone,  and  so  solid  that  they  will  evi- 
dently last  a  long  time.  A  barber  came  around  and  wanted  to  shave  us, 
but  for  seveml  reasons  we  declined  his  proposal,  and  satisfied  ourselves  by 
seeing  him  operate  on  a  native  customer.     The  Chinese  razor  is  a  piece 

of  steel  of  a  three-cornered  shape,  and 
is  fastened  to  a  handle  about  four  inches 
long.  It  is  kept  very  sharp,  as  any  well- 
regulated  razor  should  be,  and  a  barber 
will  handle  it  with  a  great  deal  of  dex- 
terity. The  Chinese  haven't  much  beard 
to  shave  off,  but  they  make  up  for  it  with  a  very  thick  growth  of  hair, 
which  is  all  removed  every  ten  or  twelve  days,  with  the  exception  of  a 
spot  on  the  crown  about  four  inches  in  diameter.  The  hair  on  this  spot 
is  allowed  to  grow  as  long  as  it  will,  and  is  then  braided  into  the  cue  or 
pigtail  that  everybody  knows  about. 


CHINK8K    RAZOR. 


BARBER   SHAVING   THE    HEAD    OF    A    CUSTOMER. 


"  After  we  left  Sha-ho  the  country  became  rough,  and  the  road  grew 
steadily  worse.  Our  ponies  were  pretty  sure-footed,  but  they  stumbled 
occasionally,  and  Frank  narrowly  escaped  a  bad  fall.  The  pony  went  down 
all  in  a  heap  and  threw  Frank  over  his  head.  He  fell  on  a  soft  spot,  and 
80  was  not  injured ;  but  if  the  accident  had  happened  six  feet  farther  on, 


A   CHINESE  BRIDGE. 


383 


cir  six  feet  farther  back,  it  would  have  thrown  him  among  the  rough  stones, 
where  there  were  some  very  ugly  points  sticking  up. 

"  We  found  another  fine  bridge  on  this  part  of  the  road,  and  our  guide 
said  it  was  called  the  '  Bridge  of  the  Cloudy  Hills,'  because  the  clouds  fre- 
quently hung  over  the  hills  in  the  distance.     The  Chinese  are  very  fond 


384 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


of  fanciful  names  for  their  bridges  and  temples,  and  fiequently  the  name 
has  very  little  to  do  with  the  structure  itself.  I  am  told  that  there  is  a 
bridge  in  the  south  of  China  with  exactly  the  same  name  as  this,  and  not 
far  from  it  is  another  called  tlie  '  Bridge  of  the  Ten  Thousand  Ages.'  We 
have  seen  the  'Temple  of  Golden  Happiness'  and  the  'Bridge  of  Long 
Repose.'  We  shall  be  on  the  lookout  for  the  '  Temple  of  the  Starry  Firma- 
ment,' and  probably  shall  not  be  long  in  finding  it.  Strange  that  a  people 
so  practical  as  the  Chinese  should  have  so  much  poetry  in  their  language! 
"  We  came  to  the  village  of  Nan-kow,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Nan-kow 
Pass,  and  stopped  there  for  dinner.  Our  ride  had  given  ns  a  good  appetite, 
and  though  our  cook  was  not  very  skilful  in  preparing  our  meal,  we  did 
not  find  fault  with  him,  as  we  did  not  wish  to  run  the  risk  of  waiting 
while  he  cooked  the  thinsrs  over  again.  The  Chinese  inn  at  Nan-kow  is 
not  so  good  as  the  Palace  Hotel  at  San  Francisco ;  in  fact,  it  is  as  bad  as  any 
other  hotel  that  we  have  seen.  They  don't  have  much  pleasure  travel  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  and  therefore  it  does  not  pay  them  to  give  much 
attention  to  the  comfort  of  their  guests. 

"  The  Nan-kow  Pass  is  about  thirteen  miles  long,  and  the  road  through 
it  is  very  rough.  The  mountains  are  steep,  and  we  saw  here  and  there 
ruins  of  forts  that  were  built  long  ago  to  keep  out  the  Tartar  invaders  of 
China.  Our  animals  had  several  falls,  but  they  got  through  without  acci- 
dent, and,  what  was  more,  they  brought  us  to  a  village  where  there  was  an 
inn  with  something  good  to  eaL 

"What  do  you  suppose  it  was?  It  was  mutton,  which  is  kept  boiling 
in  a  pot  from  morning  till  night ;  and  as  fast  as  any  is 
taken  out,  or  the  soup  boils  down,  they  fill  the  kettle 
up  again.  Mutton  is  very  cheap  here,  as  sheep  are 
abundant  and  can  be  bought  at  the  purchaser's  own 
price,  provided  he  will  keep  himself  within  reason. 
Great  numbers  of  sheep  are  driven  to  Pekin  for  the 
supply  of  the  city,  and  we  met  large  flocks  at  several 
points  on  the  road.  Their  wool  has  been  exported  to 
England  and  America ;  but  it  is  not  of  a  fine  quality, 
and  does  not  bring  a  high  price. 

"We  passed  the  ruins  of  forts  and  towers  every 
few  miles,  and  our  guide  pointed  out  some  of  the  tow- 
ers that  were  formerly  used  for  conveying  intelligence 
by  means  of  signal -fires.     They  are  now  falling  to 
pieces,  and  are  of  no  further  use. 

"  This  is  the  road  by  which  the  Tartars  went  to  the  conquest  of  China, 


THE    GOD    OF   THE 
KITCHEN. 


RESULT  OF  A  WOMAN'S  FANCY. 


385 


and  tliere  is  a  storj:  that  the  empire  was  lost  in  consequence  of  a  woman. 
The  Cliinese  were  very  much  afraid  of  the  Tartars,  and  they  huilt  the 
Great  Wall  to  keep  them  out  of  the  country.  But  a  wall  would  be  of  no 
use  without  soldiers  to  defend  it,  and  so  it  was  arranged  that  whenever  the 
Tartars  were  approaching,  a  signal  should  be  sent  along  the  towers,  and 
the  army  would  come  to  Pekin  to  defend  it. 

"  One  day  a  favorite  lady  of  the  emperor's  palace  persuaded  the  em- 
peror to  give  tiie  signal,  to  see  how  long  it  would  take  for  the  generals  and 
the  army  to  get  to  Pekin.  He  gave  the  signal,  and  the  army  came,  but 
the  generals  were  very  angry  when  they  found  they  had  been  called  to- 
gether just  to  amuse  a  woman.  They  went  back  to  their  homes,  and  the 
affair  was  supposed  to  be  forgotten. 

"By-and-by  the  Tartars  did  come  in  reality,  and  the  signal  was  sent 
out  again.  But  this  time  no  army  came,  nor  did  a  single  general  turn  his 
face  to  Pekin.  The  city  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  invaders,  and  they  are 
there  to-day.  So  much  for  what  a  woman  did ;  but  it  sounds  too  much 
like  the  story  of  'The  Boy  and  the  Wolf  to  be  true. 

"At  tiie  last  place  where  we  stopped  before  reaching  the  Great  Wall 
we  found  the  people  very  insolent,  both  to  us  and  to  the  men  in  our  em- 
ploy. They  said  rude  things  to  us,  and  perhaps  it  was  fortunate  that  we 
did  not  understand  Chinese,  or  we  might  have  been  disposed  to  resent 
their  impudence,  and  so  found  ourselves  in 
worse  trouble.  Our  guide  said  something  to 
a  lama,  or  priest,  and  he  managed  to  make  the 
people  quiet,  partly  by  persuasion  and  partly 
by  threats.  Some  of  the  men  had  been  drink- 
ing too  freely  of  sam-shoo,  wliich  has  the  same 
effect  on  them  as  whiskey  has  on  people  in 
America.  It  is  not  unusual  for  strangers  in 
this  part  of  China  to  be  pelted  with  stones ;  but 
the  natives  are  afraid  to  do  much  more  than 
this,  as  they  would  thereby  get  into  trouble. 

"  At  the  place  where  we  reach  the  Great 
AVall  there  is  a  Chinese  city  called  Chan-kia- 
kow ;  but  it  is  known  to  the  Russians  as  Kal- 
gan.  It  is  the  frontier  town  of  Mongolia,  and 
the  Russians  have  a  great  deal  of  commerce  with  ^  lam  i 

it.     It  stands  in  a  v^alley,  and  so  high  are  the 

mountains  around  it  that  the  sun  does  not  rise  until  quite  late  in  the  fore- 
noon.    Doctor  Bronson  said  there  is  a  town  somewhere  in  the  Rocky 

25 


386 


THE  BOY   TKAVELLKliS. 


-'-'^'•■Sifl 


THE  HILLS   NEAR    CHAN-KIA-KOW. 


Mountains  of  America  wliich  is  so  sluit  in  tliat  the  snn  does  not  rise 
tliere  until  about  eleven  o'clock  next  day ;  and  we  thought  it  might  pos- 
sibly be  a  relative  of  Chan-kia-kow.  There  is  an  odd  sort  of  population 
here,  as  the  merchants  who  trade  with  the  Russians  are  from  all  parts  of 
China ;  and  then  there  are  Mongols  from  the  Desert  of  Gobi,  and  a  very 
fair  number  of  real  Russians. 

"  One  curious  article  of  trade  consisted  of  logs  from  the  country  to  the 
north.  They  are  cut  in  lengths  of  about  six  feet,  and  are  intended  for 
coffins  for  the  people  of  the  southern  part  of  the  empire.  Wood  is  scarce 
in  the  more  densely  inhabited  portions  of  China,  and  must  be  carried  for 
great  distances.  It  is  six  hundred  miles  from  the  Great  Wall  to  where 
these  logs  are  cut,  and  so  they  must  be  carried  seven  hundred  miles  in  all 
before  they  reach  Pekin,  The  carts  on  which  they  are  loaded  are  very 
strong,  and  have  not  a  bit  of  iron  about  them. 

"  We  are  now  at  the  Great  Wall,  which  comes  straggling  over  the  hills 
that  surround  the  city,  and  forms  its  northern  boundary.  It  is  very  much 
in  ruins,  but  at  the  town  itself  there  is  a  portion  of  it  kept  in  good  repair, 
and  one  (►f  the  gates  is  regularly  shut  at  night  and  opened  in  the  morning. 
Some  of  the  old  towers  are  still  in  their  places ;  but  the  weather  is  slowly 
wearing  them  away,  and  in  time  they  will  all  be  fallen. 

''  The  Great  Wall  is  certainly  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world,  and  it 
was  very  much  so  at  the  time  of  its  construction.     It  was  built  two  thou- 


A   DAY   AT  THE   GREAT  WALL.  387 

sand  years  ago,  and  is  about  twelve  liundred  miles  long.  It  runs  west- 
ward from  the  sJiores  of  the  Gulf  of  Pe-chi-li  to  what  was  then  the  west- 
ern frontier  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  For  the  greater  part  of  the  way  it 
consists  of  a  wall  of  earth  faced  with  stone  or  brick,  and  it  is  paved  on  the 
top  with  large  tiles.  It  is  about  twenty-five  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and 
diminishes  to  fifteen  feet  wide  at  the  top,  with  a  height  of  thirty  feet.  In 
many  places  it  is  not  so  substantial  as  this,  being  nothing  more  than  a  wall 
of  earth  faced  with  brick,  and  not  more  than  fifteen  feet  high.  At  vary- 
ing intervals  there  are  towers  for  watchmen  and  soldiers.  They  are  gen- 
erally forty  or  fifty  feet  high,  and  about  three  hundred  feet  apart. 

"  The  wall  follows  all  the  inequalities  of  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
winding  over  mountains  and  through  valleys,  crossing  rivers  by  massive 
archways,  and  stretching  straight  as  a  sunbeam  over  the  level  plain. 

"  Think  what  a  work  this  would  be  at  the  present  day,  and  then  re- 
member that  it  was  built  two  thousand  years  ago,  when  the  science  of 
engineering  was  in  its  infancy,  and  the  various  mechanical  appliances  for 
moving  heavy  bodies  were  unknown ! 

"  We  spent  a  day  at  the  Great  Wall.  We  scrambled  over  the  ruins 
and  climbed  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  towers,  and  we  had  more  than  one 
tumble  among  the  remains  of  the  great  enterprise  of  twenty  centuries 
ago.  Then  we  started  back  to  Pekin,  and  returned  with  aching  limbs 
and  a  general  feeling  that  we  had  had  a  hard  journey.  But  we  were  well 
satisfied  that  we  had  been  there,  and  would  not  have  missed  seeing  the ' 
Great  Wall  for  twice  the  fatigue  and  trouble.  They  told  us  in  Pekin 
that  some  travellers  have  been  imposed  on  by  seeing  only  a  piece  of  a 
wall  about  thirty  miles  from  the  city,  which  the  guides  pretend  is  the  real 
one.  They  didn't  try  the  trick  on  us,  and  probably  thought  it  would  not 
be  of  any  use  to  do  so. 

"  We  did  not  stay  long  in  Pekin  after  we  got  back  from  the  Great 
Wall,  as  we  had  to  catch  the  steamer  at  Tien-tsin.  Here  we  are  steaming 
down  the  coast,  and  having  a  jolly  time.  We  are  on  the  same  ship  that 
took  us  up  from  Shanghai,  and  so  we  feel  almost  as  if  we  had  got  home 
again.  But  we  are  aware  that  home  is  yet  a  long  way  off,  and  we  have 
many  a  mile  between  us  and  the  friends  of  whom  we  think  so  often." 


388  THE   BOY  TllAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

FROM  SHANGHAI  TO   HONG-KONG.— A   STORY  OF  THE  COOLIE  TRADE. 

THE  party  reached  Shanghai  without  accident,  and  on  their  arrival  at 
that  port  the  boys  had  a  welcome  surprise  in  tlie  shape  of  letters 
from  home.  Their  first  letters  from  Japan  had  been  received,  and  read 
and  reread  by  family  and  friends.  To  jndge  by  the  words  of  praise  that 
they  elicited,  the  efforts  of  the  youths  at  descriptive  composition  were  em- 
inently successful.  Frank's  mother  said  that  if  they  did  as  well  all 
through  their  journey  as  they  had  done  in  the  beginning,  they  would  be 
qualified  to  write  a  book  about  Japan  and  China  ;  and  a  similar  opinion 
of  their  powers  was  drawn  from  Fred's  mother,  who  took  great  pride  in 
her  son.  Mary  and  Eftie  composed  a  joint  letter  to  Frank,  to  tell  how 
much  pleasure  he  had  given  them.  They  were  somewhat  anxious  about 
the  purchases,  but  were  entirely  sure  everything  would  be  correct  in  the 
end.  Fred  began  to  be  a  trifle  jealous  of  Frank  when  he  saw  how  much 
the  latter  enjoyed  the  communication  from  the  girl  who  came  to  the  rail- 
way station  to  see  them  off.  He  vowed  to  himself  that  before  he  started 
on  another  journey  he  would  make  the  acquaintance  of  another  Eflie,  so 
that  he  would  have  some  one  to  exchange  letters  with. 

The  letters  were  read  and  reread,  and  their  perusal  and  the  prepara- 
tion of  answers  consumed  all  tlie  time  of  the  stay  in  Shanghai.  The 
delay,  however,  was  only  for  a  couple  of  days,  as  the  weekly  steamer  for 
Hong-kong  departed  at  the  end  of  that  time,  and  our  friends  were  among 
her  passengers.  Another  of  the  ship's  company  was  our  old  friend  "the 
Mystery,"  who  told  Doctor  Bronson  that  he  had  been  travelling  in  the 
interior  of  Japan,  and  had  only  recently  arrived  from  there.  He  was 
going  to  Canton,  and  possibly  farther,  but  could  not  speak  with  certainty 
until  he  had  arranged  some  business  at  Hong-kong. 

The  steamer  on  which  our  friends  were  travelling  was  under  the 
French  flag,  and  belonged  to  the  line  popularly  known  as  "  the  French 
Mail."  The  service  between  Europe  and  China  is  performed  alternately 
by  two  companies,  one  of  them  English  and  the  other  French ;  and  by 


PIDGIN   ENGLISH.  389 

means  of  these  two  companies  there  is  a  weekly  ship  each  way.  Tlie 
Frencli  steamers  are  preferred  b}'  a  great  many  travellers,  as  they  are  gen- 
erally larger  than  the  English  ones,  and  are  admirably  arranged  for  com- 
fort. They  make  the  voyage  from  Shanghai  to  Marseilles  in  about  forty 
days,  calling  at  the  principal  ports  on  the  way,  and  going  through  the 
Suez  Canal.  The  English  steamers  follow  very  nearly  the  same  route  as 
the  French  ones,  as  long  as  they  are  in  Eastern  waters ;  but  when  they 
reach  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  they  have  two  lines,  one  going  to  Venice 
and  the  other  to  Southampton.  The  official  names  of  the  two  companies 
are  "  The  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Steam  Navigation  Company  "  (English), 
and  "La  Compagnie  des  Messageries  Maritimes"  (French). 

There  were  not  many  passengers,  perhaps  a  dozen  in  all,  and  they  were 
mostly  merchants  and  other  residents  of  Shanghai  on  their  way  to  Europe 
or  to  some  of  the  southerly  ports  of  Asia.  Two  of  the  passengers  were 
accompanied  by  their  Chinese  servants,  and  the  boys  were  greatly  amused 
to  hear  the  efforts  of  the  latter  to  speak  English.  They  had  already 
heard  the  same  kind  of  thing  during  their  movements  in  CTiina,  but  had 
not  paid  much  attention  to  it  in  consequence  of  their  occupation  with  other 
matters.  Now,  however,  they  had  some  leisure  for  investigation,  and  Fred 
suggested  that  they  had  better  take  a  glance  at  the  Chinese  language. 

A  few  glances  were  all  they  wanted,  as  Frank  was  not  long  in  ascer- 
taining that  it  would  require  years  of  study  to  acquaint  hiniself  with 
enough  of  the  language  to  be  able  to  converse  in  it.  Fred  learned,  about 
the  same  time,  that  there  was  a  written  language  and  a  spoken  one,  and 
the  two  were  so  unlike  that  a  man  can  read 
and  write  Chinese  without  being  able  to  speak 
it,  and  can  speak  without  being  able  to  read 
and  write.  They  found  that  very  few  for- 
eigners who  came  to  China  to  stay  for  years 
ever  troubled  themselves  to  learn  the  language, 
but  were  contented  with  "  pidgin  English." 
Then  the  question  very  naturally  arose,  "  What 
is  pidgin  English  f ' 

r        O  O  SPECIMEN    OF    CHINESE    WRITING. 

In  a  small  book  entitled  "  John,  or  Our 
Chinese  Relations,"  Frank  found  something  relating  to  pidgin  English, 
which  he  copied  into  his  note- book  for  future  reference.  "When  he  had 
done  with  the  volume,  it  was  borrowed  by  Fred  for  the  same  purpose,  and 
the  boys  gave  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  author  for  saving  them  the  trouble 
to  hunt  up  the  information  by  asking  questions  of  their  friends.  What 
they  selected  was  as  follows : 


390  THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 

*' In  attempting  to  pronounce  the  word  '  business,' the  Chinese  were  formerly  unable  to  get 
nearer  to  the  real  sound  than  '  pidgin '  or  'pigeon;'  hence  the  adoption  of  that  word,  which 
means  nothing  more  nor  less  than  'business.'  Pidgin  English  is  therefore  business  English,  and 
is  the  language  of  commerce  at  the  open  jjorts  of  Cliina,  or  wiierever  else  the  native  and  foreigner 
come  in  contact.  A  pidgin  French  hns  made  its  appearance  in  Saigon  and  at  other  places,  and  is 
steadily  increasing  as  French  commerce  has  increased.  On  the  frontier  line  between  Russia  and 
•Cliina  there  is  an  important  trading-point — Kiaciita — where  the  commerce  of  the  two  empires 
was  exclusively  conducted  for  a  century  and  a  half.  A  pidgin  Russian  exists  there,  and  is  the 
medium  of  commercial  transactions  between  the  Russian  and  Chinese  merchants. 

"  Long  ago  the  Portuguese  at  Macao  had  a  corresponding  jargon  for  their  intercourse  with 
the  Chinese;  and  it  may  be  safely  stated  that  wherever  the  Chinese  have  established  permanent 
relations  with  any  country,  a  language  of  trade  has  immediately  sprung  into  existence,  and  is  de- 
veloped as  time  rolls  on  and  its  necessities  multiply. 

"The  decline  in  Portuguese  trade  with  China  was  accompanied  with  a  corresponding  decline 
in  the  langtiage,  but  it  left  its  impress  upon  the  more  recent  pidgin  English,  which  contains  many 
Portuguese  words.  Pidgin  English  is  a  language  by  itself,  with  very  little  inflection  either  in 
noun,  pronoun,  or  verb,  and  with  a  few  words  doing  duty  for  many.  The  Chinese  learn  it  readily, 
as  they  have  no  grammatical  giants  to  wrestle  with  in  mastering  it,  and  the  foreigners  are  quite 
ready  to  meet  them  on  the  road  and  adapt  their  phraseology  to  its  requirements.  The  Chinese 
has  only  to  commit  to  memory  a  few  hundred  words  and  know  their  meaning;  the  foreigner  (if 
he  be  English-speaking)  has  less  than  a  hundred  foreign  words  to  learn,  together  with  the  peculiar 
construction  of  phrases.  The  Chinese  have  printed  vocabularies  in  which  the  foreign  word  and 
its  meaning  are  set  forth  in  Chinese  characters,  and  thus  they  have  no  occasion  to  trouble  them- 
selves with  the  alphabet  of  the  stranger.  These  books  are  specially  intended  for  the  use  of  com- 
firadores  and  servants  in  foreign  employ,  and  are  so  small  that  they  can  be  readily  carried  in  the 
poc'ket. 

"  In  pidgin  English  the  pronouns  Ac,  she,  it,  and  theji  are  generally  expressed  by  the  single 
pronoun  he.  All  the  forms  of  the  first  person  are  included  in  my.  and  those  of  the  second  person 
in  you.  When  we  come  to  the  verbs,  we  find  that  action,  intention,  existence,  and  kindreil  con- 
ditions are  covered  by  hab,  behnt/ey,  and  can  do.  Various  forms  of  possession  are  expressed  by 
ratchee  (catch),  while  can  do  is  particularly  applied  to  ability  or  power,  and  is  also  used  to  imply 
affirmation  or  negation.  Thus :  '  Can  do  walkee  ?'  means  'Are  you  able  to  walk  ?'  If  so,  the  re- 
sponse would  be  'Can  do,' while  'No  can  do' would  imply  inability  to  indulge  in  pedestrianism. 
Belongey  comes  from  '  belong,' and  is  often  shortened  to  a  single  syllable,  b'lomj.  It  is  very  mucli 
employed,  owing  to  the  many  shades  of  meaning  of  which  it  is  capable.  Thus  :  '  I  live  in  Hong- 
kong'would  be  rendered  'My  belongey  Hong-kong  side,' and  'You  are  very  large' would  be 
properly  translated  'You  belongey  too  muchee  big  piecee.' 

"  The  Chinese  find  great  difficulty  in  pronouncing  r,  which  they  almost  invariably  convert  into 
/.  They  have  a  tendency  to  add  a  vowel  sound  (o  or  «•)  to  words  ending  with  a  consonant. 
Bearing  these  |)oints  in  mind,  we  readily  see  how  '  drink  "  becomes  dlinko,  and  '  brown  '  blownee. 
Final  </ and  t  are  awkward  for  them  to  handle,  and  th  is  to  their  lips  an  abomination  of  first-cLiss 
dimensions,  'Child'  becomes  chilo,  and  'cold'  is  transformed  to  rolo,  in  pidgin  English. 
'That,' and  other  words  beginning  with  th,  generally  lose  the  sound  of  A,  though  sometimes  they 
retain  h  and  drop  the  t  before  it.  '  Side '  is  used  for  position,  and  the  vocabulary  contains  inside, 
outside,  bottom-side  (below),  and  top-side  (above).  Chop-cho/i  means  'fast,'  'quick,'  'immedi- 
ately ;'  man-man  means  '  slowly,'  '  slower,'  'gently,'  in  the  south  of  China ;  while  at  Hnn-kow,  on 
the  Yang-tse,  it  means  exactly  the  reverse.  At  Canton  or  Swatow,  if  you  say  man-man  to  your 
boatmen,  they  will  cease  rowing  or  will  proceed  very  lightly ;  say  the  same  thing  to  your  boatmen 
at  Han-kow  or  Ichang,  and  they  will  pull  away  with  redoubled  energy," 


PROVERBS  IN  PIDGIN  ENGLISH.  391 

"  As  we  have  learned  the  principles  of  this  new  language,"  Frank  re- 
TnaFked,  "  we  ought  to  be  able  to  understand  some  proverbs  in  it.  For 
instance,  here  are  four  that  contain  whole  heaps  of  good  advice,  besides 
showing  ns  how  to  read  pidgin  English : 

*  Who  man  swim  best,  t'hat  man  most  gettee  dlown ; 
Who  lidee  best  he  most  catch  tumble  down.' 

*  One  piecee  blind  man  healee  best,  maskee ; 
One  piecee  deaf  man  makee  best  look-see.' 

'One  man  who  never  leedee, 
Like  one  dly  inkstand  be; 
You  turn  he  top-side  downey, 
No  ink  lun  outside  he.' 

'  Suppose  one  man  much  bad — how  bad  he  be, 
One  nother  bad  man  may  be  flaid  of  he.'" 

"  Those  will  do,"  Fred  answered,  "  and  here  is  Longfellow's  famous 
poem  '  Excelsior,'  which  every  schoolboy  knows,  or  ought  to  know.  It 
was  done  into  pidgin  English  by  somebody  who  lived  in  the  country'  and 
evidently  knew  what  he  was  about : 

'TOP-SIDE   GALAII! 

'  T'hat  nightee  teem  he  come  chop-chop 
One  young  man  walkee,  no  can  stop; 
Maskee  snow,  maskee  ice; 
He  cally  flag  wit'h  chop  so  nice — 
Top-side  Galah! 

'He  mnchee  solly  ;  one  piecee  eye 
Lookee  sharp — so  fashion — my: 
He  talkee  large,  he  talkee  stlong, 
Too  mnchee  ciilio;  allee  Same  gong — 
Top-side  Galah ! 

'  Insidee  honse  he  can  see  light. 
And  evly  loom  got  fire  all  light ; 
He  lookee  plenty  ice  more  high, 
Insidee  mout'h  he  plenty  cly — 

Top-side  Galah ! 

'Olo  man  talkee,  "No  can  walk, 
Bimeby  lain  come,  velly  dark  ; 
Have  got  water,  velly  wide!" 
Maskee,  my  must  go  top-side — 

Top-side  Galah ! 


392  '^^^   I^^Y   TKAVELLKRS. 

'*' Man-man,"  one  giilee  talkee  he: 
"What  for  you  go  top-side  look-see?"  • 

And  one  teem  more  he  jtlenty  cly, 
But  alhi  teem  walk  plenty  high — 

Top-side  Galah  ! 

'"Take  care  t'hat  spilum  tlee,  young  man, 
Take  care  t'hat  ice,  must  go  man-man." 
One  coolie  chin-chin  be  good  night ; 
Ue  talkee,  "  My  can  go  all  light " — 
Top-side  Gulah  ! 

•  T'hat  young  man  die :  one  large  dog  see 
Too  muchee  bobbly  findee  he. 
lie  hand  b'long  coldee,  all  same  like  ice, 
He  holdee  flag,  wit'li  chop  so  nice — 
Top-side  Galah  I' " 

"  But  does  every  Chinese  who  goes  to  a  foreign  country  understand 
how  to  talk  pidgin  English?"  Frank  asked  of  Doctor  Bronson. 
■  "  Not  by  any  means,"  was  the  reply ;  "  thousands  of  them  are  not  able 
to  speak  a  word  when  they  go  abroad,  but  they  gradually  pick  up  the  lan- 
guage of  the  country  to  which  they  go.  Not  all  of  them  go  to  America 
or  other  English-speaking  lands  ;  many  have  gone  to  Cuba,  Peril,  and  Bra- 
zil, where  there  was  no  need  of  a  knowledge  of  English.  Spanish  and  Por- 
tuguese are  the  only  tongues  in  use  there,  and  many  an  emigrant  never 
took  the  trouble  to  learn  a  word  of  them." 

Their  old  acquaintance  "  the  Mystery  "  had  joined  the  party  while  the 
convei-sation  just  recorded  was  going  on.  When  the  Doctor  made  allusion 
to  the  emigration  to  Cuba  and  Peru,  "  the  Mystery"  opened  his  eyes  a  little 
wider  than  was  his  custom,  and  said  he  was  well  aware  that  many  had  gone 
to  those  countries  who  knew  nothing  but  Chinese,  and  never  learned  a  word 
of  any  other  language.  As  the  boys  showed  a  desire  to  hear  more  on  the 
subject,  he  proposed  to  tell  them  something  about  the  coolie-trade ;  and  it 
was  arranged  that  they  should  assemble  in  the  smoking-saloon  after  din- 
ner, where  they  could  talk  at  their  leisure. 

After  dinner  they  met  as  agreed,  and  "the  Mystery"  seated  himself 
comfortably  for  the  story  he  was  about  to  tell. 

"  The  coolie-trade,"  said  he,  "  does  not  exist  any  more.  It  was  very 
nmch  like  the  slave-trade,  of  which  you  have  read ;  in  fact,  it  was  nothing 
more  than  the  slave-trade  with  the  form  chanffed  a  little.  In  the  African 
slave-trade  the  slaves  were  bought  as  one  might  buy  sheep  and  cattle.  In 
the  coolie-traffic  the  men  were  hired  for  a  term  of  years  at  certain  stipu- 


T'hat  ni<«litce  teem  he  come  chop-chop 
One  youiio;  man  walkee,  no  can  stop. 


"  Take  care  that  spilum  tlee,  young  man, 
Take  care  that  ice,  must  go  man  man." 


Man-man,"  one  uirlcc  talkee  he: 
What  for  you  gotop-side  look-see?" 


T'hat  young  man  die:  one  large  dog  see 
Too  mucliee  bobbly  findee  he. 


394 


THE   BOY    TliAVELLKRS. 


lated  wages,  and  were  to  be  returned  to  tlieir  liomes  at  the  end  of  that 
term,  provided  all  their  debts  had  been  discharged.  The  plan  was  all 
right  on  its  face,  but  it  was  not  earned  out.  When  the  period  for  which 
lie  was  engaged  M'as  up,  the  coolie  was  always  made  to  be  in  debt  to  his 
employer ;  and,  no  matter  how  hard  he  might  Mork,  he  was  not  allowed 
to  free  himself.  He  was  a  slave  to  his  master  just  as  much  as  was  the 
negro  from  Africa,  and  not  one  coolie  in  a  thousand  ever  saw  liis  native 
land  again. 

"  Not  only  were  the  men  hired  on  contracts  that  they  could  never  can- 
cel, but  they  were  stolen,  just  as  slaves  are  stolen  in  Africa.  Boats  were  sent 
np  the  rivers  in  the  southern  part  of  China  to  bring  back  loads  of  coolies. 
They  would  land  an  armed  party  at  a  village,  seize  all  the  men  in  the 
place,  and  bring  them  to  the  port,  where  they  would  be  transferred  to  the 
dealere,  who  would  send  them  to  the  places  where  their  labor  was  needed. 
Macao  was  the  great  port  for  the  coolie  trade,  and  the  Portuguese  had  large 
sheds  there,  which  they  called  harracoons^  for  holding  the  coolies  in  prison 
till  they  were  readj^  to  ship  them  away.  These  barracoons  w^ere  some- 
times so  crowded  that  thousands  of  coolies  died  there  in  the  course  of  a 
single  year.  Tlie  natives  called  them  '  chu-tze-kuan^  or  '  pig-pens,'  and  they 
were  so  filthy  that  they  richly  deserved  the  name. 


PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  COOLIE  TRADE. 


395 


"  Tlie  name  '  coolie'  belongs  prop- 
trly  to  a  tribe  of  natives  on  the  north- 
ern coast  of  Africa,  but  it  is  applied  to 
a  laborer  of  any  part  of  the  East,  and  this  is  its  meaning  in  Japan  and  China. 
"  The  laborers  who  were  to  be  taken  to  Cuba  or  Peru  were  received  on 
board  the  ships,  and  counted  as  they  came  over  the  side,  like  so  many 
boxes  or  bales  of  merchandise ;  in  fact,  they  were  nothing  but  merchan- 
dise, and  the  receipts  were  made  out  for  a  certain  number  of  coolies  with- 
out the  least  record  of  their  names  and  residences.  I  was  once  in  a  ship 
that  took  a  cargo  of  these  people  to  Peru,  and  I  don't  believe  that  any- 
body on  board  felt  otherwise  tlian  if  he  had  been  in  the  slave-trade.  And 
we  had  a  narrow  escape  from  having  our  throats  cut  by  our  cai-go  and  our 
bodies  thrown  into  the  sea." 


396 


THE   BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


"  Please  tell  us  about  that,"  said 
Fred.  Frank  echoed  the  request,  and 
their  informer  nodded  his  consent. 

"  The  ship  had  taken  its  cargo  at 
Macao,  and  we  went  out  to  sea  witli  a 
fine  breeze.  We  liad  over  a  thousand 
'  passengers '  in  the  hold,  and  only  a 
small  number  were  to  be  allowed  on 
deck  at  one  time,  as  several  ships  had 
been  captured  by  the  coolies,  and  we 
did  not  intend  to  be  taken  if  we  could 
help  it.  Two  days  after  we  started 
there  was  trouble  among  the  coolies, 
and  several  of  them  ran  about  the 
space  below-deck  and  threatened  to  set 

y  .  j^ .  -         the  ship  on  tire.     They  did  build  a  fire 

%L  -v_    :^^^ __-        of  some  of  the  dry  boards  used  for  mak- 

ENRAGED  coouR  iug  thclr  slecping-bertlis ;  but  we  cov- 

ered the  liatches  with  tarpaulins,  and 
held  the  smoke  down  there,  so  that  the  coolies  were  nearly  smothered  and 
compelled  to  put  the  fire  out  themselves. 

"  The  hatchways  were  covered  with  gratings  to  admit  of  a  free  circu- 
lation of  air,  and  they  were  so  firmly  fastened  that  the  coolies  could  not 
disturb  them.  Several  men  were  on  deck  when  the  trouble  began,  and 
one  of  them  tried  to  get  through  the  grating  to  join  his  companions.  He 
managed  to  squeeze  his  body  through  the  opening,  and  then  discovered 
too  late  that  he  had  a  fall  of  nearly 
thirty  feet  before  him,  as  the  hatch 
of  the  lower  deck  was  open.  He* 
struggled  a  moment,  then  dropped 
to  the  lower  hold,  and  was  killed  by 
the  fall. 

"  It  became  necessary  to  fire  on 
the  mutineers,  and  for  this  we  raised 
the  tarpaulins  over  one  of  the  hatch- 
es. The  smoke  poured  out  in  a  dense 
mass  and  almost  smothered  us,  and 
we  could  only  see  the  forms  of  the 
men  very  dimly,  like  a  ship  in  a  fog. 
We  fired,  and  continued  to  fire  till 


A  FIGHT  FOR  LIFE. 


397 


FIRING    DOWN    THK    HATCHWAY. 


several  of  them  had  been  shot  down,  and  all  their  efforts  to  get  at  us  were 
of  no  avail.  There  were  about  sixty  men  in  the  crew,  and,  as  we  had  over 
a  thousand  coolies  on  board,  we  had  numbers  against  tis  fearfully.  But 
tliey  liad  no  fire-arms,  while  we  had  a  good  supply  of  rifles  and  pistols, 
with  plenty  of  ammunition.  At  the  time  of  the  outbreak  there  were  not 
far  from  a  hundred  coolies  on  deck  ;  but  we  drove  them  forward,  and  kept 
so  large  a  guard  over  them  that  they  could  not  have  done  anything  to  help 
their  friends  below  if  they  had  been  disposed  to  do  so. 

"  ^^^®  ^ot  out  of  water,  and  the  only  way  to  reach  what  we  had  on 
board  was  by  going  down  through  tlie  hold.  Of  course  anybody  who 
ventured  there  would  be  killed  instantly ;  but  we  had  the  consolation  of 
knowing  that  they  could  not  get  water  any  more  than  we  could,  as  the 
place  where  it  was  stowed  was  fastened  too  securely  for  the  coolies  to 
open  it  with  any  tools  they  had  on  hand.  We  had  a  small  condenser  in 
the  cook's  galley,  and  with  this  we  procured  enough  water  to  save  us  from 
death  by  thirst;  but  we  refused  to  give  a  drop  to  the  mutineers. 

"  They  held  out  for  two  days,  and  during  all  that  time  hardly  a  man 
of  us  slept  more  than  a  few  minutes  at  a  stretch.  Many  of  the  coolies 
Were  suffering  terribly  with  thirst  and  hunger,  and  they  asked  to  have 
their  wants  supplied  while  they  were  making  negotiations  for  peace.  The 
captain  refused  anything  but  the  most  unconditional  surrender,  and  the 
only  concession  he  would  grant  was  to  have  the  dead  bodies  passed  up  to 
be  thrown  overboard.  Of  course  the  coolies  were  very  glad  of  this,  as 
they  were  suffering  fi-om  the  fearful  condition  of  the  narrow  space  where 
they  were  confined.     When  this  work  was  completed,  they  asked  for  half 


398 


THE  BOY  TliAVKLLEIlS. 


THE    WUITING    IN    BLOOD. 


an  liour's  time  to  make  a  proposal  for  surrender,  wliicli  was   allowed 
them. 

"  Looking  through  the  hatch,  we  could  see  them  grouped  together  and 
engaged  in  earnest  conversation.  Two  were  dead  or  dying,  and  from  one 
of  them  there  was  a  stream  of  blood  slowly  oozing.  A  coolie  who  ap- 
peared to  be  a  ringleader  among  them  dipped  his  pen  in  the  blood  and 
wrote  on  a  sheet  of  paper : 

"  '  We  wnnt  three  hundred  coolies  to  be  allowed  on  deck  at  n  time.  The  ship  must  go  back 
to  tlie  coast,  and  allow  iis  to  Iniid  at  Whampo.i,  below  Canton.  We  promise  to  make  no  trouble 
if  this  be  done,  but  will  burn  the  ship  at  once  unless  tlie  captain  agree  to  it.' 

"  We  knew  that  any  promise  they  made  would  not  amount  to  anything 
when  they  were  once  in  possession  of  tlie  deck,  and,  besides,  to  go  back  to 
China  would  be  a  complete  surrender  of  the  voyage.  The  captain  did  not 
hesitate  a  moment  in  his  answer  to  tliis  demand. 

"He  opened  one  of  the  hatches  just  enough  to  allow  one  man  to  de- 


RESTORATION    OF  PEACE. 


399 


scend  at  a  time,  and  through  this  hole  he  eoinpelled  all  the  coolies  who 
were  then  on  deck  to  pass.  Then  he  told  the  interpreters  to  say  that  they 
might  bnrn  the  ship  as  soon  as  they  liked,  and  the  crew  would  leave  in  the 
boats.  The  boats  were  made  ready  for  lowering;  and,  as  we  were  not  far 
from  the  coast,  and  the  wind  was  fair,  there  was  not  much  doubt  of  our 
getting  safe  to  Hong-kong.  Not  a  coolie  would  escape,  and  we  should 
take  good  care  that  the  lire  would  be  so  far  advanced  before  we  left  that 
it  could  not  be  put  out. 

"  In  an  hour  we  received  another  message,  written  in  blood,  like  the 
first.  It  promised  to  deliver  the  ringleaders  of  the  mutiny,  to  be  kept  in 
irons  till  we  arrived  at  our  destination,  and  also  promised  that  there  should 
be  no  more  attempts  to  set  tire  to  the  ship.  The  captain  was  to  fix  the 
number  of  men  to  be  on  deck  at  one  time,  and  they  were  to  obey  his 
orders  without  question.     In  fact,  the  surrender  was  complete. 

"We  had  no  trouble  after  that;  but  we  onl}^  allowed  fifty  men  on 
deck  at  one  time,  and  those  under  a  strong  guard.  You  can  be  sure  we 
were  in  a  hurry  to  finish  the  voyage,  which  we  did  without  accident.  I 
had  had  all  I  wanted  of  the  coolie-trade,  and  never  went  on  another  voy- 
age like  that." 


THi:    INTERFRBTKBS. 


400  'Jl'HE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

HONG-KONG  AND  CANTON.-CHINESE   PIRATES. 

^'^IIE  story  of  tlie  coolie-trade  and  some  of  the  conversation  that  fol- 
-■-  lowed  cleared  the  mystery  that  surrounded  the  narrator  and  had 
given  him  the  name  by  which  he  was  known.  He  had  been  an  active 
participant  in  the  peculiar  connnerce  of  the  East,  which  includes  the  vio- 
lation of  laws  whenever  they  prove  inconvenient,  such  as  the  smuggling 
of  opium  and  the  shipment  of  coolies  to  the  countries  where  they  are  in 
demand.  His  latest  venture  was  one  that  required  considerable  secrecy, 
as  it  involved  the  purchase  of  arms  for  the  rebels  in  Japan.  For  this 
reason  he  had  been  very  cautious  in  his  movements  around  Yokohama  and 
during  his  whole  stay  in  Japan,  and  he  had  found  it  judicious  to  leave  the 
country  on  the  vessel  that  came  so  near  being  wrecked  in  the  typhoon 
that  overtook  our  friends.  He  was  safely  away  from  Japan  now,  and  the 
arms  that  he  had  purchased  for  the  rebels  were  in  the  hands  of  the  gov- 
ernment. He  had  made  money  by  the  operation,  and  was  on  the  lookout 
for  something  new. 

"  That  man  belongs  to  a  class  which  is  not  at  all  rare  in  the  far  East," 
said  Doctor  Bronson  to  the  boys  when  the  subject  of  the  conversation  had 
left  them.  "  A  great  many  adventurers  find  their  way  here,  some  of  them 
being  men  of  ability  which  borders  on  genius,  while  the  others  are  not  far 
removed  from  rascals.  Ward  and  ]^urgevine  were  of  the  better  sort ;  and 
there  are  others  whom  T  could  name,  but  the}'  are  not  so  numerous  as  the 
other  and  worse  variety.  They  are  very  often  men  of  good  manners,  and 
not  at  all  disagreeable  as  travelling  companions,  but  it  is  not  advisable  to 
be  intimate  with  them.  Travelling,  like  poverty,  makes  us  some  strange 
acquaintances.  AVe  can  learn  a  great  deal  from  them  if  we  proceed  prop- 
erly; and  if  we  know  where  the  line  of  familiarity  should  be  drawn,  we 
are  not  in  any  danger  of  suffering  by  it." 

The  morning  after  the  above  conversation  the  steamer  arrived  at 
Hong-kong,  and  dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor.  She  was  immediately 
surrounded  by  a  fleet  of  small   boats,  Mhich  competed   eagerly  among 


ARRIVAL  AT   HONG-KONG. 


401 


themselves  for  tlie  patronage  of  the  passengers.  Our  friends  selected  one 
which  was  rowed  by  a  couple  of  women,  and  had  a  group  of  children  in  a 
little  pen  at  the  stern.  Doctor  Bronson  explained  to  the  boys  that  in 
Southern  China  a  great  deal  of  the  boating  is  done  by  women,  and  that 
entire  families  live  on  board  the  little  craft  on  which  they  earn  their  exist- 
ence. The  boat  population  of  Canton  numbers  more  than  sixty  thousand 
persons.  They  are  not  allowed  to  live  on  shore,  and  their  whole  lives,  from 
birth  to  death,  are  passed  on  the  water.  The  most  of  the  boatmen  and 
boatwomen  at  Hong-kong  come  from  Canton,  which  is  only  ninety  miles 
away ;  and  as  they  have  privileges  at  the  former  place  which  are  denied 
them  in  the  latter,  they  are  quite  satisfied  to  stay  where  they  are. 


HONG-KONG. 


Hong-kong  is  a  rocky  island  on  tlie  coast  of  China,  and  has  an  excel- 
lent harbor,  sheltered  from  most  of  the  winds  that  blow.  The  town  of 
Victoria  is  built  at  the  edge  of  this  harbor,  and  the  streets  that  lead 
back  from  the  water  are  so  steep  that  the  effort  of  climbing  them  is  liable 
to  throw  a  stranger  from  the  North  into  a  violent  perspiration.  Fortu- 
nately, there  is  an  abundance  of  sedan-chairs,  and  any  one  who  wishes 
to  take  a  promenade  may  do  his  walking  by  hiring  a  couple  of  chair- 
coolies  to  do  it  for  him.  The  chairs  are  everywhere,  and  it  is  generally 
desirable  to  hire  one  in  order  to  be  rid  of  the  continual  applications  from 
those  that  are  unemployed.     At  the  wharf  where  they  landed  the  Doctor 

26 


402  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 

enga<:fed  porters  to  carry  the  baggage  to  the  hotel,  and  then  took  chairs 
for  tlie  transportation  of  himself  and  the  boys.  As  they  had  the  after- 
noon before  them,  tlie  chairs  were  kept  for  making  the  ascent  of  the 
mountain  just  back  of  the  town,  and  as  soon  as  the  rooms  were  secured, 
and  a  slight  lunch  had  been  served,  they  started  on  their  excursion. 

At  the  highest  point  of  the  mountain — about  eighteen  Inindred  feet 
above  the  water-level — there  is  a  signal -station,  where  all  vessels  coming 
into  port  are  announced  t>y  means  of  flags.  Our  friends  were  carried  along 
a  zigzag  road  to  this  station,  the  coolies  stopping  every  few  minutes  to 
rest  from  the  fatigue  of  ascending  a  steep  road  with  a  burden  on  their 
shoulders.  At  the  station  they  had  a  view  extending  a  long  distance  out 
to  sea  and  over  the  coast  of  China,  and  the  mountain  was  so  nearly  per- 
pendicular that  it  seemed  as  if  they  could  toss  a  penny  on  the  town  or 
into  the  harbor.  Fred  tried  it,  and  so  did  Frank ;  but  after  throwing 
away  several  ounces  of  copper,  and  finding  they  only  went  a  short  dis- 
tance, they  abandoned  the  experiment.  They  returned  well  satisfied  with 
the  excursion,  and  agreed  that  no  one  who  visits  Hong-kong  should  omit 
the  journey  to  the  top  of  the  mountain. 

Hong-kong,  being  an  English  colony,  is  governed  after  the  English 
form,  and  consequently  the  laws  enforced  in  China  do  not  necessarily  pre- 
vail on  the  island.  The  population  includes  four  or  five  thousand  English 
and  other  European  nationalities,  and  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  Chi- 
nese. The  number  of  the  latter  is  steadily  increasing,  and  a  very  large  part 
of  the  business  of  the  place  is  in  their  hands.  The  money  in  circulation  is 
made  in  England  for  the  special  use  of  the  colony.  It  has  the  head  of  the 
Queen  on  one  side,  and  the  denomination  and  date  on  the  other ;  and,  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  Chinese,  the  denomination  is  given  in  Chinese 
characters.  The  smallest  of  the  Hong-kong  coins  is  made  to  correspond  with 
the  Chinese  cash,  and  it  takes  ten  of  them  to  make  a  cent,  or  one  thousand 
for  a  dollar.  It  has  a  hole  in  the  centre,  like  the  Chinese  coins  generally, 
to  facilitate  stringing  on  a  wire  or  cord,  and  is  se  popular  with  the  natives 
that  it  is  in  free  circulation  in  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  empire. 

There  was  not  a  great  deal  to  be  seen  in  the  town,  and  so  the  next 
morning  the  three  travellers  started  for  Canton.  There  is  a  boat  each 
way  daily,  and  the  journey  is  made  in  seven  or  eight  hours;  tlie  boys 
found  that  the  boat  in  which  they  went  was  of  American  construction, 
and  had  an  American  captain,  and  so  they  felt  at  home,  as  they  had  felt 
on  the  Yang-tse  under  similar  circumstances. 

Soon  after  they  left  the  dock,  Frank  observed  that  the  gangway  lead- 
ing to  the  lower  deck  was  covered  with  a  grating  fastened  with  a  padlock, 


AN  ADVENTURE   WITH   PIRATES. 


403 


Utiver««.  R«vene. 

FAC-SIMILE    OF    A    HONG-KONG    JIILLE. 


ObvcrM.  Reverie. 

FAC-9IMII.K    OF    A    HOXO-KOSG    DIME. 


Obrerw.  Keveree. 

FAC-SIMILE    OF    A    HONG-KONG   CENT. 


and  that  a  Malay  sailor  stood  over  it  witli  a  sword  in  his  hand  and  a  pistol 
at  his  belt.  He  called  Fred's  attention  to  the  arrangement,  and  as  soon  as 
they  found  the  captain  at  leisure  they  asked  what  it  meant. 

"  It's  a  very  simple  matter,"  said  Captain  B ,  "  when  you  know 

about  it.  The  fact  is,  that  we  were  once  very  near  losing  our  lives  by 
Chinese  pirates,  and  we  don't  propose  to  have  another  risk  like  it." 

"  Why,  what  could  pirates  have  to  do  with  this  boat,  I  wonder?"  said 
Frank. 

"  We  didn't  know  at  the  time,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  we  found  out." 

"  How  was  that  ?" 

"  Well,  it  seems  that  some  Chinese  pirates  determined  to  capture  this 
boat,  murder  all  the  foreigners  on  board,  rob  the  Chinese  passengers,  and 
then  get  away  on  a  junk  that  was  to  be  ready  to  receive  them.  They 
made  their  plans,  and  on  a  certain  day  fifty  of  them  took  passage  from 
Canton  to  Hongkong.  When  about  half  way,  they  were  to  meet  a  junk 
with  more  men  ;  and  as  the  junk  hung  out  her  signal  and  came  near,  the 
fellows  were  to  fall  upon  us  with  their  knives,  and  capture  the  boat. 
They  intended  to  kill  us  all,  but  their  scheme  failed,  as  there  were  four 
ships  at  anchor  that  day  close  by  the  spot  wliere  the  junk  was  to  meet 
them,  and  so  the  junk  took  the  alarm  and  left.  There  was  no  disturbance, 
and  we  did  not  have  a  suspicion  of  anything  wrong.  Finding  they  had 
failed  with  us,  they  went  the  next  day  and  captured  the  steamer  Spark, 
M-hich  runs  between  Canton  and  Macao.  They  killed  the  captain  and 
officers  and  the  only  European  passenger  who  happened  to  be  on  board, 


404 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


plundered  all  the  native  passengers,  and  got  away.  Some  of  them  were 
afterwards  captured,  and  confessed  to  their  part  in  the  affair,  and  then  the 
whole  story  came  out  that  they  had  intended  to  rob  this  boat.  Since  then 
we  always  have  the  gratings  down,  so  that  the  third-class  passengers  can- 
not come  on  deck ;  and  we  keep  plenty  of  rifles  and  revolvers  in  the  pilot- 
house and  captain's  cabin  ready  for  use.  They  may  never  try  it  on  us 
again,  and  we  don't  intend  to  give  them  a  chance  to  do  so." 


FORT  IN   CANTON   EIVBK. 


The  captain  w'ent  on  to  say  that  there  were  many  pirates  in  the 
waters  around  Canton,  and  all  along  the  southern  coast.  The  govern- 
ment tries  to  8n]ipres8  them,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  do  so,  and  hardly  a  day 
passes  without  the  report  of  a  robbery  somewhere.  All  trading-junks  are 
obliged  to  go  heavily  armed,  and  out  of  this  fact  comes  a  great  deal  of  the 
piracy,  as  a  junk  may  be  a  peaceful  trader  at  one  o'clock,  a  pirate  at  two, 
and  a  peaceful  trader  again  at  three.  It  takes  very  little  to  induce  a 
Chinese  captain  to  turn  pirate  w'hen  he  sees  a  rich  prize  before  him,  and 
he  has  no  trouble  in  winning  over  his  crew.  It  is  impossible  to  distin- 
guish the  pirate  from  the  trader ;  and  as  the  coast  is  seamed  with  island 
passages  and  indented  with  bays,  it  is  easy  for  a  junk  to  escape  after  she 
has  committed  a  robbery. 


FIRST  VIEW  OF  CANTON.  405 

The  voyage  from  Ilong-kong  to  Canton  is  partly  among  islands  and 
through  a  bay,  and  partly  on  the  Pearl  Eiver.  The  navigation  is  easy  in 
the  first  part  of  the  course,  but  after  the  steamer  has  reached  the  narrower 
portion  of  the  river  the  great  number  of  junks  and  other  craft  compels 
a  sharp  lookout  on  the  part  of  the  pilots,  to  avoid  accidents.  They  passed 
the  famous  Whampoa  Anchorage,  where  the  ocean-bound  ships  used  to 
receive  their  cargoes  before  Hong-kong  assumed  its  present  importance. 
A  few  miles  farther  on,  the  great  city  of  Canton  was  brought  into  sight  as 
the  steamer  swung  around  a  bend  in  the  river.  In  front  was  the  island 
of  Ho-nan,  with  its  temple  bowered  in  trees,  and  on  the  surface  of  the 
river  there  were  thousands  of  boats  of  many  kinds  and  sizes.  The  boys 
remembered  what  they  had  heard  of  the  boat  population  of  Canton,  and 
now  they  realized  that  they  had  reached  a  city  where  sixty  thousand 
people  make  their  homes  on  the  water. 

Before  the  steamer  stopped  she  was  surrounded  by  dozens  of  the 
smaller  boats,  and,  as  soon  as  they  could  do  so,  many  of  the  boatwomen 
came  on  board.  The  captain  recommended  one  of  them  who  was  kno\yn 
as  "  American  Susan,"  and  the  trio  were  confided  to  her  care  for  transfer 
to  the  hotel  on  Ilo-nan  Island.  Susan  and  her  attendant  women  shoulder- 
ed the  valises  which  the  travellers  had  brought  from  Ilong-kong,  and  led 
the  way  to  her  boat.  The  gallantry  of  the  boys  received,  a  shock  when 
they  saw  their  baggage  carried  by  women,  while  their  own  hands  were 
empty;  but  the  Doctor  told  them  it  was  the  custom  of  the  country,  and  by 
carrying  their  own  valises  they  would  deprive  the  women  ot  an  oppor- 
tunity of  earning  a  few  pennies.  To  this  view  of  the  matter  they  yield- 
ed ;  and  before  they  had  recovered  their  composure  the  boat  was  gliding 
across  the  river,  propelled  by  the  powerful  arms  of  her  feminine  crew. 
Susan  proposed  to  be  in  their  employ  during  their  stay  at  Canton,  and  a 
bargain  was  speedily  concluded  ;  for  fifty  cents  at  day,  the  boat  was  to  be 
at  their  disposal  from  morning  till  night  to  carry  them  over  the  river,  or 
to  any  point  they  wished  to  visit  along  its  banks.  Frank  thought  they 
would  be  obliged  to  look  a  long  time  to  find  a  boat  with  two  men  at  the 
oars  for  a  similar  price  in  IS"ew  York,  and  Fred  thought  they  would  have 
to  look  still  longer  to  find  one  rowed  by  two  women. 

They  had  three  or  four  hours  to  spare  before  sunset,  and  at  once  set 
about  the  business  of  sight-seeing.  Their  first  visit  was  to  tlie  temple  on 
the  island,  and  they  were  followed  from  the  landing  by  a  crowd  of  idle 
people,  who  sometimes  pressed  too  closely  for  comfort.  There  was  an 
avenue  of  trees  leading  up  to  the  temple,  and  before  reaching  the  build- 
ing they  passed  under  a  gateway  not  unlike  those  they  had  seen  at  the 


406 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


GATEWAY  OF  TEMI'I.E  NEAR  CANTON. 


temples  in  Kioto  and  Tokio.  The  temple  was  not  particularly  impressive, 
as  its  architectural  merit  is  not  of  much  consequence,  and,  besides,  it  was 
altogether  too  dirty  for  comfort.  There  was  quite  a  crowd  of  priests  at- 
tached to  it,  and  tliey  were  as  slovenly  in  appearance  as  the  building  they 
occupied.  In  the  yard  of  the  temple  the  strangers  were  shown  the 
furnaces  in  which  the  bodies  of  the  priests  are  burned  after  death,  and  the 
little  niches  where  their  ashes  are  preserved.  There  were  several  pens 
occupied  by  the  fattest  pigs  the  boys  had  ever  seen.  The  guide  explained 
that  these  pigs  were  sacred,  and  maintained  out  of  the  revenues  of  the 
temple.  The  priests  evidently  held  them  in  great  reverence,  and  Fr^nk 
intimated  that  he  thought  the  habits  of  the  pigs  were  the  models  which 
the  priests  had  adopted  for  their  own.  Some  of  the  holy  men  were  at 
their  devotions  when  the  party  arrived,  but  they  dropped  their  prayer- 
books  to  have  a  good  look  at  the  visitors,  and  did  not  resume  them  until 
they  had  satisfied  their  curiosity. 

From  the  temple  they  proceeded  to  a  garden,  where  they  had  an  op- 
portunity of  seeing  some  of  the  curious  productions  of  the  Chinese  gar- 
deners in  the  way  of  dwarfing  trees  and  plants.  There  were  small  bushes 
in  the  shape  of  animals,  boats,  houses,  and  other  things,  and  the  resem- 
blance was  in  many  cases  quite  good.  They  do  this  by  tying  the  limbs 
of  the  plants  to  little  sticks  of  bamboo,  or  around  wire  frames  shaped  like 
the  objects  they  wish  to  represent ;  and  by  tightening  the  bandages  every 


ARTIFICIAL   EGG-IIATCIIIXG.  407 

morning,  and  carefully  watching  the  development  of  the  work,  they  event- 
ually accomjilish  their  purpose.  If  they  represent  a  dog  or  other  animal, 
they  generally  give  it  a  pair  of  great  staring  eyes  of  porcelain,  and  some- 
times they  equip  its  mouth  with  teeth  of  the  same  material.  Many  of 
the  Chinese  gardens  are  very  prettily  laid  out,  and  there  are  some  famous 
ones  near  Canton,  belonging  to  wealthy  merchants. 

On  their  return  from  the  garden  they  stopped  at  a  place  Avhere  eggs 
are  hatched  by  artificial  heat.  They  are  placed  over  brick  ovens  or  fur- 
naces, where  a  gentle  heat  is  kept  up,  and  a  man  is  constantly  on  watch 
to  see  that  the  fire  neither  burns  too  rapidly  nor  too  slowly.  A  great 
heat  would  kill  the  vitality  of  the  egg  by  baking  it,  while  if  the  temper- 
ature falls  below  a  certain  point,  the  hatching  process  does  not  go  on. 
When  the  little  chicks  appear,  they  are  placed  under  the  care  of  an  arti- 
ficial mother,  which  consists  of  a  bed  of  soft  down  and  feathers,  with  a 
cover  three  or  four  inches  above  it.  This  cover  has  strips  of  down  hang- 
ing from  it,  and  touching  the  bed  below,  and  the  chickens  nestle  there 
quite  safe  from  outside  cold.  The  Chinese  have  practised  this  artificial 
hatching  and  rearing  for  thousands  of  years,  and  relieved  the  hens  of  a 
great  deal  of  the  monotony  of  life. 

On  the  river,  not  far  from  the  hatching  establishment,  they  saw  a  man 
engaged  in  the  novel  occupation  of  herding  ducks.  A  hundred  or  more 
ducks  were  on  the  water,  and  the  man  was  near  them  in  a  small  boat  and 
armed  with  a  long  pole.  The  ducks  were  very  obedient  to  him,  but  occa- 
sionally one  would  show  a  little  opposition  to  the  herder's  wishes,  and  en- 
deavor to  stray  from  his  companions.  A  rap  from  the  pole  brought  him 
speedily  to  his  senses,  and  back  to  the  herd,  and  he  was  pretty  certain  not 
to  stray  again  till  the  blow  had  been  forgotten.  Geese  were  herded  in 
the.  same  way,  and  both  they  and  the  ducks  managed  to  pick  up  a  good 
part  of  their  living  from  the  water.  Ducks  are  an  important  article  of 
food  among  the  Chinese,  and  the  rearing  of  them  gives  occupation  to  a 
great  many  persons  in  all  parts  of  the  empire. 


408  THE  BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

SIGHTS  AND  SCENES  IN  CANTON. 

THE  party  remained  three  days  at  Canton.  They  rose  early  every 
morning,  and  went  on  excursions  through  and  around  the  city,  and 
it  is  fair  to  say  tliat  they  did  not  have  a  single  idle  moment.  Each  of  the 
boys  made  careful  notes  of  what  he  saw  and  heard,  and  by  the  end  of 
their  stay  both  had  enough  to  fill  a  small  volume.  They  returned  to 
Hong-kong  on  the  fourth  day,  and  on  the  morning  after  their  return 
they  sat  down  to  write  the  story  of  their  adventures.  But  before  they 
began  writing  the  projected  letter  a  discussion  arose  between  them,  which 
was  about  like  this : 

They  expected  the  steamer  to  arrive  from  America  in  a  day  or  two, 
and  it  would  doubtless  bring  letters  for  them,  which  would  determine 
their  future  movements.  They  expected  to  return  home  by  way  of  San 
Francisco,  as  they  had  come ;  but  it  was  by  no  means  improbable  that  they 
would  keep  on  to  the  westward,  and  so  go  around  the  woi'ld  by  way  of 
India  and  Europe. 

"  What  is  the  use  of  writing  up  our  Canton  experiences,"  said  Frank, 
"  till  we  know  what  we  are  to  do  ?  If  we  go  home  by  San  Francisco,  we 
will  have  plenty  of  time  on  the  steamer;  and  if  we  go  on  to  the  west,  we 
will  have  to  go  by  steamer  too;  and  then  we  will  have  time  enough  be- 
tween Hong-kong  and  the  first  port  we  stop  at.  "Why  should  we  be  in  a 
hurry  to  write  up  our  account,  when,  in  any  case,  we  shall  have  the  time 
to  do  so  while  we  are  at  sea?" 

Fred  admitted  the  force  of  the  argument,  but  thought  there  would 
be  an  advantage  in  writing  while  the  subject  was  fresh  in  their  minds. 
While  they  were  debating  the  pros  and  cons  of  the  case,  the  Doctor  came 
into  the  room,  and  the  question  was  appealed  to  him.  After  careful  de- 
liberation, he  rendered  a  decision  that  covered  the  case  to  the  perfect  sat- 
isfaction of  both  the  disputants. 

"  It  will  be  several  days,  at  any  rate,"  said  he,  "  before  we  can  leave 
Hong-kong,  whether  we  go  east  or  west.     !Now,  I  advise  you  to  take  an 


SHORT  HISTORY  OF  CANTON.  409 

liour  each  day  for  writing  up  your  story  of  Canton,  and  you  will  then 
have  plenty  of  time  for  sight-seeing.  You  will  have  ended  your  writing 
before  we  leave,  and  then  can  devote  your  time  at  sea  to  other  things 
which  the  voyage  will  suggest." 

His  suggestion  was  adopted,  and  they  at  once  set  about  their  work, 
determined  to  write  two  hours  daily  till  they  had  described  Canton  so 
fully  that  their  friends  would  know  exactly  what  was  to  be  seen  th^re. 
They  divided  the  work,  as  they  had  done  on  previous  occasions,  one  of 
them  making  a  description  of  a  certain  part  of  their  route,  and  the  other 
taking  another  portion  of  it.  When  they  were  through  with  it,  they  put 
the  two  stories  together,  and  found  that  they  fitted  to  perfection.  Here  is 
what  they  wrote : 

"  Canton  is  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Kwang-tung,  and  its  name 
in  English  is  a  corruption  of  the  Chinese  one.  The  people  who  live  there 
call  it '  Kwang-tung-sang-shing,'  and  the  Portuguese  call  it  Kam-tom,  and 
they  write  it  that  way.  It  is  called  the  City  of  Rams,  just  as  Florence  is 
called  the  Beautiful  City,  and  Genoa  the  Haughty;  and  the  Chinese  who 
live  there  are  very  proud  of  it.  The  climate  is  warm,  the  thermometer 
rising  to  85°  or  90°  in  the  summer,  and  rarely  going  below  50°  in  winter. 
Occasionally  ice  forms  to  the  thickness  of  heavy  paper,  and  once  in  five 
or  ten  years  there  will  be  a  slight  fall  of  snow,  which  astonishes  all  the 
children,  and  many  of  the  older  people. 

"  The  population  is  said  to  be  about  a  million,  on  land  and  water. 
Those  who  live  in  boats  are  about  sixt}^  thousand.  The  city  was  founded 
more  than  two  thousand  years  ago,  according  to  the  Chinese  historians, 
but  it  was  not  surrounded  with  a  wall  until  the  eleventh  century.  The 
wall  to-day  is  the  same  that  was  first  built,  but  it  has  been  repaired  and 
changed  a  good  deal  in  the  time  it  has  stood,  and  some  new  parts  have 
been  added.  The  circuit  of  the  walls  is  about  seven  miles,  but  there  are 
suburbs  that  now  form  a  part  of  the  city,  so  that  it  is  a  journey  of  not  less 
than  ten  miles  to  go  around  Canton. 

"  There  are  sixteen  gates  to  the  city,  and  each  has  a  name  that  desig- 
nates its  position.  There  are  two  pagodas  near  the  West  Gate,  and  there 
are  a  hundred  and  twenty -four  temples,  pavilions,  and  halls  inside  the  walls 
of  Canton.  Then  there  are  four  prisons,  and  there  is  an  execution  ground, 
where  many  a  poor  fellow  has  lost  his  head.  The  prisons  are  like  all  such 
establishments  in  China,  and  a  great  many  men  would  prefer  death  to  in- 
carceration in  one  of  these  horrible  places. 

"We  don't  know  positively  whether  there  are  a  million  people  in  Can- 
ton or  not.     We  took  the  figures  from  the  guide-book,  just  as  everybody 


410 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


else  takes  tliem,  and  we  want  to  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  to  it.  The 
guide-book  is  verj  useful  in  a  strange  country,  as  it  tells  you  in  a  few 
minutes  what  you  might  spend  hours  or  days  in  learning.  It  gives  you  an 
outline  which  you  must  lill  in  for  yourself  by  practical  observation ;  and 


A   CHINESE  PAWNBROKER.  411 

unless  you  have  it  with  you,  tliere  is  a  great  deal  that  you  may  miss,  if 
your  time  is  limited,  and  you  are  compelled  to  do  your  sight-seeing  rapidly. 

"  When  we  came  in  sight  of  Canton,  we  saw  some  buildings  that  rose 
far  above  all  others,  and  very  naturally  we  asked  what  they  were.  We 
were  somewhat  taken  aback  when  told  that  they  were  pawnbrokeis'  estab- 
lishments, and  of  course  they  were  among  the  things  we  went  to  look  at. 
They  were  filled  from  top  to  bottom  with  clothing  and  other  things,*and 
our  guide  explained  to  us  that  the  Chinese  are  in  the  habit  of  pawning 
everything  they  are  not  using,  for  the  double  reason  that  they  get  money 
which  they  can  use,  and  at  the  same  time  they  save  the  trouble  of  taking 
care  of  the  property.  At  the  beginning  of  winter  they  pawn  their  sum- 
mer clothes,  and  at  the  beginning  of  summer  they  pawn  their  winter 
clothes.  All  other  things  on  which  they  can  borrow  money  they  take  to 
the  pawn-shop,  even  when  they  are  not  obliged  to  have  the  cash.  It  saves 
the  trouble  of  storing  the  goods  themselves,  and  running  the  risk  of  hav- 
ing them  stolen. 

"  We  went  through  one  of  the  pawn-shops,  climbing  stairway  after 
stairway,  and  being  almost  stifled  in  the  narrow  and  musty  places  we  were 
obliged  to  go  through.  The  goods  were  done  up  in  packages,  each  one  of 
them  being  labelled  and  ticketed,  and  there  was  a  register  down-stairs,  so 
that  any  desired  package  could  be  found  when  wanted.  Diamonds  and 
other  articles  of  great  value  were  kept  in  safes  near  the  basement,  and  the 
least  costly  goods  were  near  the  roof.  There  must  have  been  many  thou- 
sands of  things  stowed  away  in  this  pawn-shop.  The  building  was  said  to 
be  tire-proof,  and  its  great  height  was  intended  to  secure  it  against  thieves. 

"  Close  by  the  door  of  this  establishment  there  was  an  opium  den, 
where  a  dozen  or  more  men  were  intoxicating  themselves  with  opium,  or 
sleeping  off  the  effects  of  what  they  had  already  taken.  We  just  looked 
in  for  a  moment ;  it  was  so  much  like  the  place  of  the  same  kind  that  we 
saw  in  Shanghai  that  we  did  not  care  to  stay,  and,  besides,  the  smell  was 
very  bad  and  the  heat  almost  stifling.  The  Cantonese  are  said  to  be  just 
as  invetera-te  smokers  of  the  deadly  drug  as  the  people  of  the  North  ;  in 
fact,  it  is  about  the  same  all  over  China,  and  with  all  classes  that  can  af- 
ford to  indulge  in  the  vice.  Only  the  middle  and  poorer  classes  go  to  the 
shops  to  smoke  opium.  The  rich  people  can  enjoy  the  luxury  at  home, 
and  some  of  them  have  rooms  in  their  houses  specially  fitted  up  for  it. 

"We  saw  a  good  many  temples,  and  went  through  some  of  them,  but, 
on  the  whole,  they  were  rather  disappointing,  as  they  were  not  so  fine  as 
those  at  Pekin,  and  far  behind  those  of  Japan.  The  most  interesting  of 
the  pagodas  is  the  one  known  as  the  '  Five-storied  Pagoda,'  so  called  be- 


412 


THE  BOY  TRAVELLERS. 


flVIi-SrolilLl)    1-AG01)A. 


cause  it  is  five  stories  high.  It  stands  on  a  hill  that  overlooks  the  whole 
city  on  one  side, and  a  large  cemetery  on  the  other;  and  when  yon  have 
climbed  to  the  top,  the  view  is  very  fine.  The  roofs  of  the  houses  are  of  all 
shapes  and  kinds,  and  the  streets  are  so  narrow  that  you  can  see  very  few 
of  them  as  you  look  down  from  the  top  of  the  pagoda.  On  the  one  hand 
yon  have  a  densely  peopled  city  of  the  living,  and  on  the  other  an  equally 
densely  peopled  city  of  the  dead.  Our  guide  said  the  cemetery  had  more 
inhabitants  than  the  city ;  and  when  we  asked  him  how  many  people  lived 
there,  he  said  '  Many  millions.'  You  have  to  come  to  China  to  learn  that 
the  people  in  a  cemetery  are  supposed  to  live  there. 

"And  yet  the  guide  was  not  so  far  out  of  the  way,  according  to  the 
Chinese  idea.  The  Chinese  bring  food  to  the  graves  of  their  friends,  and 
leave  it  there  as  an  offering.  The  spirits  of  the  dead  are  believed  to  linger 
around  the  spot  and  to  eat  this  food,  but  it  is  really  devoured  by  .the  priests 
and  others  who  stay  around  the  cemetery,  and  what  they  do  not  eat  or 
carry  away  is  consumed  by  the  birds.  At  certain  seasons  they  have  grand 
festivals,  when  many  thousands  of  people  go  to  the  cemeteries  with  offer- 
ings for  the  dead,  and  good  things  for  themselves.  The  affair  is  more  like 
a  picnic  than  a  ceremony  of  mourning ;  and  when  it  breaks  up,  tlie  mourn- 
ers go  to  the  theatre  or  some  other  place  of  amusement.  The  best  burial- 
place  is  on  a  hill-side,  and  the  tomb  is  made  in  the  form  of  a  terrace,  or 
rather  of  three  terraces,  with  steps  leading  up  to  them.     As  you  look  at  it 


CEREMONIES  IN  MEMORY  OF  THE  DEAD. 


HOKSESHOE  OR  OMEGA  GKAVE. 


from  a  little  distance,  the  tomb  has  the  shape  of  a  horseshoe,  or,  better 
still,  of  '  Omega,'  the  last  letter  of  the  Greek  alphabet. 

"  Our  guide  said  that  not  only  do  they  make  offerings  in  the  cemeteries 
to  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  but  they  have  shrines  in  their  houses  where  the 
dead  are  worshipped.  To  prove  what  he  said  was  true,  he  took  us  into  a 
house  and  showed  one  of  these  shrines  with  bowls  of  rice  and  fruit,  cups 
of  tea,  and  other  things,  on  a  table.  He  explained  that  when  the  offerings 
were  made  they  sent  for  a  priest,  who  came  with  two  men  to  assist  him ; 
and  while  the  priest  stood  behind  the  table  and  repeated  his  prayers,  one 
of  his  attendants  pounded  on  a  drum,  and  the  other  rang  a  bell.  There 
was  a  fire 'in  front  of  the  shrine,  and  during  the  time  the  priest  was  per- 
forming the  man  who  gave  the  feast  knelt  before  the  fire  and  burned 
some  mock  money,  made  out  of  silver  paper  in  imitation  of  real  coin. 
When  the  affair  was  over,  the  priest  took  all  that  he  wanted  from  the  table, 
and  the  remainder  was  eaten  by  the  company  who  had  been  invited. 

"  Not  a  great  distance  from  the  five-storied  pagoda  we  saw  the  leper  hos- 
pital, where  the  unfortunate  people  who  suffer  from  leprosy  are  compelled 
to  live,  and  soon  to  die.  The  sight  was  a  horrible  one,  and  we  did  not 
want  to  stay  long  among  the  sufferers.     We  had  expected  to  find  a  large 


414 


THE   BUY   TRAVELI.ERS. 


PBE8KMXINO   FOOD   TO   THE    SPIRITS   OF    THE    DEAD. 


building,  like  3  hospital  in  America,  but  instead  of  this  there  were  several 
small  buildings,  grouped  together  in  a  little  village,  some  of  the  houses 
having  garden  patches  near  them.    The  people  were  lying  or  sitting  around 

in  the  sun,  and  some  few  of  them  were  at 
work  in  the  gardens.  The  most  were  not 
able  to  do  anything,  as  they  were  suffer- 
ing from  the  disease,  which  Mras  slowly 
killing  or  crippling  them. 

"  The  guide  said  there  were  two  kinds 
of  leprosy,  the  'wet'  and  the  'dry.'  In 
the  wet  leprosy  the  body  of  the  victim 
abounds  in  running  sores,  while  in  the  dry 
there  is  notiiing  of  the  sort,  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  skin  is  not  greatly  differ- 
ent from  what  it  is  in  health.  The  disease 
generally  attacks  the  joints  of  the  hands 
or  feet,  particularly  those  of  the  former, 
and  the  sufferer  loses  the  first  joint  of  the 
fingers  and  thumbs  at  about  the  same 
time.     Then,  in  a  few  months,  he  loses  the  second  joints,  and  in  two  or 


HALL   OF  EXAMINATIONS. 


415 


LITERARY    STUDENT. 


tliree  montlis  more  tlio  third  joints  go.  "We  saw  lepers  in  all  the  stages 
of  the  disease — some  with  the  iirst  joints  of  the 
hands  gone,  others  who  had  lost  the  second 
joints,  and  others  tlie  third ;  while  others,  again, 
had  lost  the  hands  at  the  wrists.  There  seems 
to  be  no  cure  for  most  of  the  forms  of  the  lep- 
rosy ;  and  when  a  man  is  attacked  with  it,  he 
must  go  at  once  to  the  hospital,  no  matter 
whether  he  is  rich  or  poor.  And  when  he  has 
gone  there,  he  generally  remains  till  death  re- 
lieves him  from  his  sufferings. 

"  One  of  the  curious  places  we  saw  was  the 
Hall  of  Examinations.  This  is  a  large  enclosed 
space,  having  rows  on  rows  of  little  cells,  where 
the  candidates  for  the  literary  degree  are  ex- 
amined once  in  every  three  years.  There  are 
eleven  thousand  of  these  cells,  and  each  cell  is 
just  large  enough  for  one  man  to  occupy.  The 
candidates  are  put  in  these  cells,  and  each  man 
is  furnished  with  a  sheet  of  paper  and  a  pen. 

He  must  write  on  the  paper  any  given  page  of  the  Chinese  books  called 
*The  Classics'  without  mistake  or  alteration,  and  he  is  not  allowed  to  try  a 

second  time  until  the  next  examina- 
tion comes  round.  There  are  men 
who  keep  on  trying  all  their  lives  for 
the  degree,  and  they  tell  of  one  man 
who  succeeded  after  he  was  eighty 
years  old.  The  candidates  try  all 
sorts  of  tricks  to  smuggle  in  copies 
of  the  books  on  which  they  are  to 
be  examined,  and  also  extra  sheets  of 
paper ;  but  they  are  carefully  search- 
ed, and  everything  of  the  sort  is 
taken  away  from  them. 

"  There  is  a  story  in  Pidgin-Eng- 
lish verse  of  how  a  Chinese  student 
befriended  an  American,  who  was  a 
photographer  by  profession.  The 
American  believed  that  one  good  turn 
deserved  another,  and  so,  when  the 


A    J-ITKHAUY    GRADUATE    IN    HIS    ROBES    OF 
HONOR. 


41 C  THE   BOY   TRAVELLERS. 


A    SEDAN-CHAIR    WITH   FOUR    BEARERS. 


examination  time  came  round,  lie  pliotographed  '  Tlie  Classics'  on  the 
finger-nails  of  his  Oriental  friend.  The  student  was  allowed  to  wear  spec- 
tacles during  his  examination,  and  so  he  bought  a  pair  of  magnifying- 
glasses  that  enabled  him  to  read  every  word  that  he  wanted.  ^  He  came 
out  at  the  head  of  his  class,  and  was  no  doubt  very  thankful  that  he  had 
done  a  kindly  action  towards  a  stranger. 

"  But  the  great  sights  of  Canton  we  have  not  yet  mentioned.  These 
are  the  streets,  and  they  are  by  all  odds  the  finest  we  have  seen  in  the  coun- 
try. They  are  very  narrow,  few  of  them  being  more  than  six  or  eight  feet 
wide,  and  some  of  them  less  than  the  former  figure.  Not  a  single  wheel- 
ed carriage  can  move  in  all  Canton,  and  the  only  mode  of  locomotion  is  by 
means  of  sedan-chairs.  We  had  chairs  every  day  with  four  bearers  to  each, 
and  it  was  strange  to  see  how  fast  the  men  would  walk  in  the  dense  crowds 
without  hitting  any  one.  They  kept  calling  out  that  they  were  coming, 
and  somehow  a  way  was  always  made  for  them.  Several  times,  when  we 
met  other  chairs,  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  get  by,  and  once  we  turned  into 
a  side  street  to  allow  a  mandarin's  chair  to  pass  along.  We  did  knock 
down  some  things  from  the  fronts  of  stores,  and  several  times  the  tops  of 
our  chairs  hit  against  the  perpendicular  sign-boards  that  hung  from  the 
buildings.  There  are  great  numbers  of  signs,  all  of  them  perpendicular, 
and  they  are  painted  in  very  gaudy  colors,  so  that  the  eifect  is  brilliant. 
Sometimes,  as  you  look  ahead,  the  space  between  the  two  sides  of  the  street 
is  quite  filled  with  these  signs,  so  that  you  cannot  see  anything  else. 

"  The  streets  are  not  at  all  dirty,  and  in  this  respect  are  vastly  different 
from  those  of  any  other  city  we  have  seen  in  China.  The  authorities  evi- 
dently pay  some  attention  to  keeping  them  clean  and  preventing  the  ac- 
cumulation of  dirt.  The  fronts  of  many  shops  are  fully  oj^en  to  the  street, 
and  the  merchants  know  how  to  arrange  their  wares  in  the  most  tempting 
manner.  You  see  lots  of  pretty  things,  and  are  constantly  tempted  to  buy, 
and  it  was  very  well  for  us  that  we  agreed  not  to  buy  anything  till  the  last 
day,  which  we  were  to  devote  to  shopping. 


SMALL-FOOTED   WOMEN. 


417 


SMALL     FOOT     WITH    A 
ON    IT. 


"  Nearly  all  the  vast  crowd  in  the  streets  con- 
sisted of  men  ;  now  and  then  a  woman  was  visi- 

l)le,  but  only  rarely,  except  near  the  river-side, 

where  there  were  some  of  the  class  that  live  on 

the  water.     We  met  some  of  the  small-footed 

women,  and  it  was  really  painful  to  see  them 

stumping  about  as  if  they  were  barely  able  to 

stand.     Double  your  list  and  put  it  down  on 

the  table,  and  you  have  a  fair  resemblance  of  the 

small  foot  of  a  Chinese  woman ;  and  if  you  try 

to  walk  on  your  fists,  you  can  imagine  how  one 

of  these  ladies  gets  along.     Some  of  them  have 

to  use  canes  to  balance  themselves,  and  running 

is  quite  out  of  the  question.     The  foot  is  com- 
pressed in  childhood,  and  not  allowed  to  grow 

much  after  five  or  six  years  of  age.     The  com- 
pression is  done  by  tight  bandages,  that  give 

great  pain  at  first,  and  sometimes  cause  severe 

inflammation. 

"  We  were  rather  impatient  for  the  last  day,  when  we  could  do  ^our 

shopping  and  buy  the  things  for  our  friends  at  home.     There  are  so  many 

fine  things  for  sale  in  Canton  that  it  is 
hard  to  determine  where  to  begin  and 
where  to  leave  off.  A  great  many  people 
keep  on  buying  till  their  money  is  all  gone, 
and  some  ot  them  do  not  stop  even  then. 

"  The  first  things  we  looked  at  in  our 
shopping  tour  were  silks,  and  we  found 
them  of  all  kinds  and  descriptions  that  you 
could  name.  There  were  silks  for  dresses 
and  silks  for  shawls,  and  they  were  of  all 
colors,  from  snowy  white  to  jet  -  black. 
Some  people  say  that  white  and  black  are 
not  colors  at  all ;  but  if  they  were  turned 
loose  among  the  silks  of  Canton,  perhaps 
they  might  change  their  minds.  It  is  said 
that  there  are  fifty  thousand  people  in  Can- 
ton engaged  in  making  silk  and  other  fab- 
rics, and  these  include  the  embroiderers,  of 
whom  there  are  several  thousands,  Chi- 
27 


PEASANT  WOMAN  WITH  NATURAL  FEKT. 


418  THE   BOY    TliAVELLEKS. 

nose  embroidery  on  silk  is  famous  all  over  the  world,  and  it  has  the  ad- 
vantage over  the  embroidery  of  most  other  countries  in  being  the  same  on 
one  side  that  it  is  on  the  other.  We  have  selected  some  shawls  that  we 
think  will  be  very  pretty  when  they  are  at  home.  They  are  pretty  enough 
now,  but  there  are  so  many  nice  things  all  around  that  the  articles  "we  have 
selected  look  just  a  little  common. 

"  One  good  thing  about  going  on  a  shopping  excursion  in  Canton  is 
that  most  of  the  establishments  for  the  sale  of  different  articles  are 
grouped  together,  just  as  they  are  said  to  be  in  the  bazaars  of  Cairo  and 
Damascus.  Thus  we  find  most  of  the  silk-dealers  in  Silk  Street,  those 
who  sell  mirrors  and  similar  work  are  in  Looking-glass  Street,  and  the 
workers  in  ivory  are  in  a  street  by  themselves.  Then  there  is  Curiosity 
Street  (or  Curio  Street,  as  it  is  generally  called),  where  you  can  buy  all  sorts 
of  odds  and  ends  of  things,  old  and  new,  which  come  under  the  head  of 
Chinese  curiosities.  Lacquered  ware  and  porcelain  have  their  especial 
quarters ;  and  so  when  you  are  in  the  region  of  any  particular  trade,  you  do 
not  have  to  walk  about  much  to  make  your  purchases.  In  the  vicinity  of 
the  river  there  are  several  large  concerns  where  they  have  a  general  as- 
sortment of  goods,  and  you  may  buy  lacquer  and  porcelain,  silk  and  ivory, 
and  nearly  everything  else  that  is  produced  in  Canton,  under  one  roof. 

"  We  have  already  described  lacquer  and  cloisonne  Avork  in  writing 
from  Japan.  The  Chinese  productions  in  the  same  line  are  so  nmch  like 
the  Japanese  that  a  description  of  one  will  do  for  the  other.  Some  of  the 
shapes  are  different,  and  it  is  not  difficult,  after  a  little  practice,  to  dis- 
tinguish the  Chinese  from  the  Japanese;  but  the  modes  of  working  are 
essentially  the  same.  All  things  considered,  we  like  the  Japanese  lacquer 
better  than  the  Chinese,  as  it  has  more  variety,  and  the  Japanese  seem  to 
be  more  cunning  than  the  Canton  people  in  making  those  bewildering 
little  boxes  with  secret  drawers  and  nooks  and  a  great  variety  of  shapes. 
But  when  it  comes  to  ivory  carvings,  we  have  something  else  to  say. 

"You  can  hardly  have  dreamed  of  the  beautiful  things  we  found  in 
Canton  cut  out  of  ivory.  There  were  combs  and  brooches  so  delicate  that 
it  seemed  as  if  they  could  be  blown  to  pieces  by  a  breath ;  and  there  were 
boxes  and  card -cases  with  representations  of  landscapes,  and  men  and 
animals  on  them  so  small  that  we  needed  a  microscope  to  see  them  dis- 
tinctly. In  one  shop  we  saw  the  whole  tusk  of  an  elephant  carved  from 
one  end  to  the  other  so  closely  that  you  could  hardly  put  a  pin  on  it  with- 
out hitting  some  part  of  the  work.  They  told  us  that  the  tusk  had  been 
sent  there  by  the  gentleman  who  killed  the  elephant  in  India,  and  he  was 
having  it  carved  to  keep  as  a  trophy.     The  carving  had  cost  six  hundred 


IVORY   CARVINGS,  FANS,  AND  SHELL-WORK. 


419 


dollars ;  and  if  it  had  been  done 
in  America,  it  would  have  cost 
nearer  six  thousand.  Skilled  la- 
bor is  cheap  in  China,  just  as  un- 
skilled labor  is,  and  it  is  astonish- 
ing for  how  little  a  man  can  be 
employed  on  the  kind  of  work 
that  would  bring  a  high  price  in 
Europe  or  America. 

"  Then  there  were  carvings  in 
tortoise-shell  of  a  great  many 
kinds,  and  all  the  forms  you 
could  think  of,  together  with 
many  you  could  not.  The  Chi- 
nese tortoise-shell  work  used  to 
be  the  best  in  the  world ;  but 
those  who  know  about  it  say  that 
it  is  now  equalled  by  the  produc- 
tions of  Naples  and  Florence, 
both  in  fineness  and  cheapness. 
Then  they  had  some  beautiful 
things  in  silver  filigree  and  in 
bronzes,  and  we  bought  a  few  of 
each,  so  as  to  show  what  Canton 
can  do  in  this  line. 

"  But  such  fans  !  such  fans ! 
They  were  so  pretty  that  we 
couldn't  keep  our  eyes  off  them, 
and  we  bought  more  of  them, 
perhaps,  than  we  needed.  In  one 
shop  we  would  find  something  so 
nice  that  we  couldn't  see  how  it 
could   be   surpassed,  and   so  we 

would  buy  it ;  and  in  the  next  we  found  something  nicer  yet,  and  so  we 
had  to  buy  that.  Anybody  who  has  a  liking  for  fans,  and  hasn't  a  mint 
of  money,  had  better  keep  out  of  the  stores  of  Canton,  or  he  w^ll  run  a 
risk  of  being  ruined.  The  varieties  are  so  great  that  we  cannot  begin 
to  name  them.  There  were  fans  on  silk,  and  fans  on  paper ;  fans  carved 
in  ivory,  tortoise-shell,  sandal-wood ;  fans  of  feathers  from  various  birds, 
with  rich  paintings  right  on  the  surface  of  the  feathers ;  and  a  great  many 


A    TABLET    CAKVED    IN    IVOKY. 


420  THE   BOY    TKAVELLEIiS. 

other  fans  besides.  There  was  one  with  frame  and  sticks  of  sandal-wood, 
beautifully  carved,  while  the  body  was  of  painted  silk.  There  were  groups 
of  figures  on  each  side  of  the  fan,  and  each  figure  had  a  face  painted  on 
ivory  which  was  afterwards  glued  to  the  silk.  It  was  the  prettiest  thing 
to  be  found  for  any  price  we  could  afford,  and  you  can  be  sure  that  it  was 
secured  for  somebody  at  home. 

"  "We  had  a  long  search  among  the  porcelain  shops  for  some  blue  china 
plates  of  what  is  called  '  the  willow  pattern.'  We  must  have  gone  into 
twenty  shops  at  least  before  we  found  them ;  and,  finally,  when  we  did  get 
them,  the  dealer  was  as  anxious  to  sell  as  we  were  to  buy.  He  said  he 
had  had  those  plates  on  hand  a  very  long  time,  and  nobody  wanted  them. 
We  did  not  tell  him  how  rare  they  are  at  home,  and  how  anxious  people 
are  to  get  hold  of  them. 

"  The  variety  of  porcelain  in  the  Canton  shops  is  very  great,  and  a 
simple  list  of  what  there  is  would  fill  several  pages.  They  showed  us 
some  of  what  they  call  egg-shell  porcelain.  It  was  so  thin  that  you  could 
almost  see  through  it,  and  so  delicate  that  it  had  to  be  carefully  handled. 
The  varieties  of  cups  and  saucers  we  could  not  begin  to  tell ;  they  make 
them  suited  to  every  market  in  the  world,  and  it  is  said  that  the  greatest 
part  of  what  they  make  is  of  the  shapes  that  are  not  used  in  China.  Of 
vases  there  was  no  end,  and  they  were  of  all  sizes,  from  a  tiny  cone  for  a 
small  bouquet  up  to  a  huge  one  capable  of  holding  a  barrel  of  water,  with 
plenty  of  room  to  spare.  The  trade  in  vases  must  be  very  great,  if  we  are 
to  judge  by  the  quantities  and  variety  that  we  saw.  Many  of  them  were 
very  elaborate,  and  must  have  cost  a  great  deal  of  money. 

"  But  there  is  danger  that  you  will  get  tired  if  we  keep  on  much 
longer  about  the  sights  of  Canton,  and  particularly  the  shopping  part  of 
it.  Besides,  we  want  to  go  out  and  see  what  there  is  in  Ilong-kong,  and 
perhaps  we  may  run  across  something  new  in  the  Chinese  part  of  the 
city  that  we  shall  want  to  buy.  A  good  many  people  say  that  you  can 
buy  Canton  goods  just  as  cheaply  in  Hong-kong  as  in  the  city  they  come 
from.  That  may  be  so  ;  but  then  it  is  more  satisfactory  to  get  them  there 
and  have  the  pleasure  of  buying  them  on  the  spot. 

"  We'll  stop  now  and  say  good-bye.  We  have  seen  China  and  Japan, 
and  had  a  splendid  time.  We  think  we  have  learned  a  great  deal  about 
the  two  countries,  and  hope  that  what  we  have  written  about  them  has 
been  interesting  to  those  for  whom  it  was  intended.  We  have  tried  to 
see  things,  and  think  of  them  without  partiality  or  prejudice.  We  believe 
that  the  people  of  the  East  have  the  same  claims  to  respect  that  ours  have, 
and  that  it  is  only  a  narrow  mind  that  sneers  at  the  ways  of  others  be- 


THK   END  OF   THE   STORY. 


421 


cause  they  are  not  like  its  own.  We  know  that  there  are  many  things  in 
wliich  we  are  superior  to  the  Orientals,  but  we  also  know  that  we  have  our 
weak  points,  and  might  be  profitably  instructed  by  those  whom  some  of 
ns  affect  to  despise.  And  the  more  we  know  these  patient  and  industrious 
])eople,  the  more  we  shall  be  likely  to  respect  them.  We  are  soon  to  leave 
('hina,  perhaps  never  to  see  it  again;  but  both  China  and  Japan  will  al- 
ways be  pleasant  recollections  to  both 

"Frank  and  Fked." 


'good-bye! 


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